A study published today shows that children who live with a father who has mental health problems and depression have higher rates of behavioural and emotional problems themselves.
The study authors looked at a nationally representative sample of almost 22,000 children over four years.
The team, led by Dr Michael Weitzman at NYU's Langone Medical Center, found that 11 per cent of children with depressed fathers had behavioural and emotional problems.
For children without depressed parents, the figure was just six per cent, while for a child of a depressed mother, the number was 19 per cent.
It is believed that a parents' depression affects the way he or she interacts with a child, in turn contributing to a child's behaviour.
Indeed, at 25 per cent, the figures spiked for children or two depressed parents.
Speaking about the results, Dr Weitzman told Good Morning America that the study is 'remarkable' because it is the first of its kind.
" I think fathers are underrecognized in terms of the impact they have in families and in children's lives," he explained. "It behooves us to try and devise clinical services that would identify fathers that are depressed and figure out ways to link them to services."





据英国《每日邮报》11月7日报道，7日发表的一项研究表明，与心里不健康和患有抑郁症的父亲生活在一起的儿童，出现行为和情感问题的几率会更高。

该研究的发起者在过去四年间观察了全国有代表性的近22，000名儿童的样本。
由纽约大学朗格医学中心的迈克尔-威兹曼医生带领的研究小组发现，有11%父亲患有抑郁症的儿童，出现了行为偏差和情感问题。

对于父母未患抑郁症的儿童，该数据（指出现行为偏差和情感问题）仅占6%。同时，对于母亲患有抑郁症的儿童，则占19%。

研究认为，父母一方患有抑郁症会影响其与孩子间的互动，转而影响了孩子的言行。

实际上，当父母双方都患有抑郁症时，孩子出现行为和情感问题的几率会上升至25%。
在谈及结果时，威兹曼医生告诉《早安美国》的记者说该研究是与众不同的，因为它是同类型研究中的首例。

他解释道："我认为父亲对于家庭和孩子生活的影响还未被公众意识到，我们理应尝试和设计临床服务来确诊患有抑郁症的父亲，并为他们设计出相关医疗服务。"

• mental [´mentl] a.精神的；心理的 (初中英语单词)
• depression [di´preʃən] n.沮丧，抑郁；萧条 (初中英语单词)
• emotional [i´məuʃənəl] a.易动感情的；情感的 (初中英语单词)
• sample [´sæmpl, ´sɑ:mpəl] n.样品；试样 vt.尝试 (初中英语单词)
• medical [´medikəl] a.医学的；医疗的 (初中英语单词)
• identify [ai´dentifai] vt.认出；鉴定；验明 (初中英语单词)
• devise [di´vaiz] vt.设计，发明 (高中英语单词)
• depressed [di´prest] a.消沉的；萧条的 (英语六级单词)
• impact [´impækt] n.影响，作用；冲击 (英语六级单词)