Parents' Depression May Harm Children's Health

When a parent suffers from depression, children are more likely to need costly health services and less likely to get preventive healthcare.

When a parent suffers from depression, children are more likely to need costly health services like emergency room visits, and less likely to get preventive healthcare, according to a new study.

The findings bolster evidence that parents' depression can take a toll on their children's health. The effect can be seen as "one of the hidden costs of adult depression," the researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.

For the study, Dr. Marion Sills and her colleagues at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver reviewed data on nearly 70,000 infants, children and teenagers enrolled in a single healthcare insurance plan...

Read the study results in the Reuter's Health.