Weissman (2005)

Question 1

Where can this study be used? (3)

Answer 1

Genetics
Family or pedigree studies (kinship)
Study of behaviour (depression)

Question 2

Aim

Answer 2

To study the potential genetic nature of Major Depressive Disorder

Question 3

Participants

Answer 3

Sample of 161 grandchildren and their parents and grandparents (longitudinal study - over 20 years)
* families with high and low risk for depression
* original sample of depressed patents (now grandparents) selected from an outpatient clinic with specialisation in treatment of mood disorders
* non-depressed P selected from same local community

Question 4

Method

Answer 4

• original sample of parents and children interviewed four times
  
  • children are now adults and have children - allowing for study to continue on for third generation
• data collected from clinicians, blind to past diagnosis of depression or data of previous interviews
• researcher triangulation used
• children evaluated by two experienced clinicians - one a child psychiatrist, the other a psychologist

Question 5

Results

Answer 5

• found high rates of psychiatric disorders in grandchildren with two generations of major depression
  
  • by 12: 59.2% of grandchildren were already showing sign of disorder (commonly anxiety)
  • children had increased risk of any disorder if depression was observed in both the grandparents and parents compared to children where their parents were not depressed
• severity of a parent’s depression correlated with increased rate of mood disorder in children
• if a parent was depressed but there was no history of depression in the grandparents, there was no significant effect of parental depression on grandchildren

Question 6

Limitations (2)

Answer 6

• association between parental MDD (major depressive disorder) and child diagnosis is moderated by grandparental MDD status
  
  • amount of time that a child spent with a grandparent may be a confounding variable in the study
• correlational study: although family (kinship) studies indicate a potential genetic link to behaviour, there is no actual genotype studied

Question 6

Strengths (4)

Answer 6

• Study is longitudinal, increasing the reliability of the data
• The use of researcher triangulation increases the credibility of the findings
• Large sample (161 children)
• Controls:
  * Non-depressed patients from the same community.
  * Protection of previous information (blind clinicians)
  * Data triangulation