Psychobiological Markers of Allostatic Load in Depressed and Non-Depressed Mothers and Their Adolescent Offspring

Importance: Most prior research examining the impact of maternal depression on offspring has been limited in the following ways: 1) focused only on families with young (i.e., prepubescent) children, 2) constrained within one domain (e.g., psychological, behavioral, or biological), and 3) lacked simultaneous investigation of the impact maternal depression has on both mother and offspring health. The current study addresses these limitations by simultaneously examining multiple psychobiological markers of allostatic load across cardiovascular indices, inflammation, cellular aging, and measures of behavioral health in depressed and non-depressed mothers as well as their adolescent offspring, which have important implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying the association between mental and physical health.Objective: Simultaneously investigate autonomic, sympathetic, and parasympathetic cardiac control, inflammation, and cellular aging differences between depressed and non-depressed mothers as well as their adolescent offspring.Design, Setting, and Participants: A case-control study of 180 low-income mother and adolescent dyads (50% mothers depressed, 50% mothers non-depressed) was conducted in a laboratory setting.Main Outcomes and Measures: Mental health symptoms, autonomic cardiac control, inflammation, and cellular aging.Results: Overall, findings indicate that both depressed mothers and their adolescent offspring systematically differ in terms of comorbid mental and physical health risk profiles that are suggestive of higher allostatic load. Findings indicate that depressed mothers exhibit elevated resting heart rate and decreased heart-rate variability, while adolescent offspring of depressed mothers also exhibit greater mental health symptoms, elevated heart rate, and accelerated biological aging (shorter telomeres). These effects persisted after controlling for a range of potential covariates, including medication use, sex, age, and adolescent mental health symptoms. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings indicate that maternal depression is associated with indices of increased allostatic load in both depressed women and their adolescent children, possibly increasing risk for early onset of psychiatric conditions and disease in these offspring.