7,000 children took part in this study on the cognitive development of children; a third of them had a parent suffering from depression. After analysis, the researchers reported a sad result:the imaging revealed that in these high-risk children, the right putamen (an area linked to reward, motivation and pleasure) is smaller than in children without a parental history of depression.
Vulnerability to depression and more broadly to generalized mental disorders, this reduced volume of the putamen is also associated, in previous studies, with anhedonia (ability to feel pleasure ). According to the researchers, it is implicated in depression, yes, but also in substance use, psychosis and suicidal behavior.
As a reminder, according to estimates by the World Health Organization, depression affects more than 300 million people worldwide. Frequent in adolescents, it is all the more difficult to detect in this delicate period of transition from childhood to adulthood. In fact, a recent survey conducted by researchers at the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan out of 819 adult parents of a child of college or high school age, 40% of Americans admitted to having doubts about their ability to differentiate blues from true signs of depression in their offspring. The survey also shows that 30% of parents surveyed find that their child is "gifted to hide how he feels.
It is not easy in these conditions to distinguish between a simple drop in morale or an episode of depression. Especially since 14% of parents admit that they do not “talk about feelings” enough with their child. However, 42% of parents surveyed say they are very confident, or somewhat confident (48%), to detect psychological distress in their teenager. A relative statement from the point of view of Sarah Clark, a researcher at the University of Michigan who co-directed the study. “Some parents may overestimate their ability to recognize depression in their own child’s mood and behavior. An overconfident parent may miss the subtle signals that something is wrong warns the researcher.
