Positive family relationships during teen years may lower your risk of depression

Having positive relationships with family during your teen years can lower your risk of depression later in life, according to a recent study published by researchers at the Carolina Population Center. 

The study, one of the first of its kind, examined data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, which surveyed over 20,000 American adolescents in seventh to 12th grade during the 1994 to 1995 school year. Respondents were interviewed and surveyed multiple times over the next 24 years, with the most recent collection of data occurring when members of the group were between 32 and 42 years old.

Researchers found that those who experienced positive adolescent family relationships had significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms from early adolescence to midlife — pointing to the conclusion that good relationships with family members during this time can foster long-term mental health. 

“It is surprising to find that the mental health benefits of positive family relationships in adolescence last so long, even till mid-life,” Ping Chen, senior research scientist at the Carolina Population Center and corresponding author of the study, said in a statement.

Researchers also found that this effect was stronger for female respondents than for males. While women benefit more from a positive childhood in later adolescence and early adulthood, men with a background of positive family relationships benefitted for a longer time over the course of their life.

“Our findings of the long-lasting mental health benefits of positive family relationships are especially important for females, who are at greater risk of depression in adolescence,” said Kathleen Mullan Harris, professor of sociology and director of Add Health at the Carolina Population Center, in a statement.

The study did not take into consideration pre-adolescent family experiences, which may have an effect on depressive symptoms. Participants also self-reported their symptoms, and did not necessarily have a clinical diagnosis of depression. 

However, Chen and Harris said that there are many opportunities for further research, and they hope other researchers will continue to build on their work. 

“We plan to do more research in this area, in particular ... to try to understand the mechanisms through which cohesive family relationships matter so long into mid-life,” Harris said. “Is it just that, if you develop close relations with your parents in adolescence, that it makes it easier to keep those good relationships as you age through young adulthood?”

Chen said that, instead of using self-reported depressive symptoms, future research should use a sample of clinically diagnosed participants. 

“For those clinical researchers, they could use the clinical measure definition of depression," Chen said. "They could use that definition to replicate our study, to see if the role of positive family relationships still holds for those patients that are actually severely depressed and are being treated." 

Harris said just because a student did not grow up in the most positive household does not mean it is too late to find social connections here at the University that could help prevent or mitigate depressive symptoms. 

“If students did not have a close relationship and come from a cohesive family, I think that they could try to foster social connections in other contexts: with your peers, fellow students and institutions, like religious institutions, volunteering, social issues or politics,” Harris said. “There are all these opportunities that are more available to college students than they are probably than at any other stage in their life course.”

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