Studies: Smoking, Childhood Relationships Can Increase Clinical Depression

Studies Find Two New Links to Depression

Scientists have found two new links to adult depression: smoking and childhood relationships. These two long-term studies have pinpointed direct relationships between these two causes and depression in those studied.

Depression may be described as feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods. It often runs in families. This may be from heredity, learned behavior, or both. Even with a genetic predisposition, it is usually a stressful or unhappy life event that triggers the onset of a depressive episode.

Common causes of depression include: disappointment, whether it be due to school, work, or relationships; sleeping problems, extreme or prolonged stress, death of a friend or relative, childhood events like abuse or neglect, social isolation, and nutritional deficiencies. New research has found two new possible causes of depression.

One study suggests that men who have a poor relationships with their siblings during childhood have a higher risk for depression. Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the study of Adult Development at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, authored the report of his team's findings in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The 68-year study, one of the longest studies of adult psychosocial development ever done, collected data on 229 men from the time they were
teens until they were in their 50s. The researchers looked at the men's quality of life and their relationships with their siblings, the quality of parenting they had, and any family history of depression.

The researchers are unclear as to what their findings mean. "It could be that not being close to a sibling is an early harbinger of later depression," Waldinger said. "Or it could be that being close to a sibling helps you develop you skills dealing with peers."

They are sure there is a connection, just unsure of why.