Stressed parents lead to sick kids, study says

by Rob Peters | March 19, 2008 at 09:26 am

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A new study suggests the negative effects of stress may be, in effect, contagious. Depressed and anxious parents have an effect on the health of their kids, according to the research.

Seems to make intuitive sense. Kids pick up negative vibes, which affects their stress levels, which affects their health. Maybe the bottom line is we should all chill out a bit--for the children.

Stressed, anxious or depressed parents could be making their children unhealthy, according to a study that followed the health of 120 children over three years. Studies in the past have shown how stress can influence a person's own health, but there has been less research on how it can affect the health of others.

In the study Dr Mary Caserta and her team monitored 120 children aged between five and 10 and their parents over three years. Parents were asked to keep a weekly diary of the child's illnesses and to take a temperature measure when they got sick. Every six months the parents completed questionnaires that asked about their own psychiatric health as well as about stressful events and family conflict.

The researchers found a clear link between anxiety and depression among parents and an increased chance of the children being ill and having a high temperature.