Parental deprivation and depression in a non-clinical group

Despite a large number of studies it remains unclear whether early parental loss or separation experiences from parents are associated with depression in adult life. In order to circumvent the possible confounding influence of psychiatric patients status, a non-clinical group was used to study any influence of early permanent parental loss and early parental separation on subsequent depressive experience in adulthood. The depressive experience of 236 post-graduate students was assessed using measures of trait depression, self-esteem, alienation, and incidence of depressive episodes. Depressive experience was not increased in those 27 subjects who had been permanently separated from a biological parent before the age of 16 years. When duration of separation from influential parent-figures was examined it was found that trait depression scores were increased in those who had experienced longer separation, but those subjects also rated their parent-figures as having been less caring. Findings are consistent with the view that it is the quality of any parental contribution, rather than its continuity, that is associated with subsequent depressive experience in adulthood.