Behavioral genetic studies indicate that nongenetic factors play a
role in the development of bipolar and major depressive disorders. The
trait of neuroticism is common among individuals with major affective
disorders. We hypothesized that high neuroticism among parents affects
the family environment and parenting practices and thereby increases
the risk of psychosocial problems among offspring. This hypothesis is
tested in a sample of participants at high and low risk for major
affective disorders, which contained parents with bipolar disorder
(55), major depression (21), or no mental disorder (148) and their 146
children between 4 and 14 years of age. Parents with high neuroticism
scores were characterized by low psychosocial functioning, poor
parenting, more dependent stressful life events, and the use of more
emotion-focused and less task-oriented coping skills. High neuroticism
in parents was associated with internalizing and externalizing problems
among the children, as assessed by parent and teacher ratings on the
Child Behavior Checklist and clinician ratings. The results suggest
that high neuroticism in parents with major affective disorders is
associated with inadequate parenting practices and the creation of a
stressful family environment, which are subsequently related to
psychosocial problems among the offspring.This work was supported by a grant to the Research Team for
the Study of the Development of Affective Disorders (Drs. S. Hodgins,
A. Schwartzman, L. Serbin, O. Bernazzani, C. Laroche, W. R. Beardslee,
G. A. Carlson, and R. Rende) from the Fonds de la Recherche en
Santé du Québec and by grants from the combined program
of the Conseil Québecois de la Recherche Sociale and Fonds de la
Recherche en Santé du Québec (1994–1998) as awarded
to S. Hodgins. M. A. Ellenbogen is supported by a postdoctoral
fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The authors
would like to thank members of the Research Team for the Study of the
Development of Affective Disorders and anonymous reviewers for their
helpful comments on these findings.