Incidence of Psychiatric Disorder in Offspring at High and low Risk for Depression

First onsets of suicide attempts & DSM-III psychiatric disorders, including major depression, any anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, or substance abuse were determined in a 2-year longitudinal study of 174 offspring at high & low-risk for major depression. Compared with asymptomatic offspring, offspring with subclinical manifestations of major depression, conduct disorder, & substance abuse at the initial interview were significantly more likely to become incident cases of the same disorder over the next 2 years. Combining both retrospective & prospective data, the overall suicide attempt rate was 7.8% in the offspring of depressed parents as compared with 1.4% in the offspring of nondepressed parents. (32 refs.)