Men who have poor relationships with their brothers or sisters during childhood are more likely to develop major depression in their adulthood. Childhood relationships with brothers and sisters are central to a person's social and emotional development. The quality of sibling relationships is a stronger predictor of future depression risk than the relationship with parents. The researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston investigated 229 men who were followed from the age of 20 years through 50 years. Data were obtained by regular interviews and from questionnaires filled by these men about their relationships with their parents and siblings. More attention was paid to sibling relationships, not just to make life better for kids in the present, but also to consider it as something that might potentially have influence on their well being in the future. Twenty-six percent of the men who had very conflicted or distant relationships with their siblings had developed major depression by the age of 50 years. Ten per cent with average sibling relationships and 3 per cent with good sibling relationships also developed major depression. There was no link between the quality of parent-child relationships and future depression risk, but people with a family history of depression were more likely to be depressed in adulthood. The men with poor sibling relationships were also more likely to use mood-altering drugs such as tranquilisers, stimulants and sleeping pills later in life. The findings suggest that it is possible that some of these men having difficulty in forming a strong positive bond with at least one sibling in childhood may be an early marker of biological or psychological processes that could eventually result in adult depression. The results also indicate that a good childhood relationship with just one sibling may curb the chances of depression in a person later in life. However, further research is warranted.
American Journal of Psychiatry,
June 2007