MEMORIES OF PARENTAL REARING IN FEMALE DEPRESSION

This study was focused on the analysis of childhood experiences in a s ample of depressed women. Childhood affective deprivation was consider ed as the loss or lack of an affective relationship prior to adolescen ce, and not only the death or separation from the parents. We tested t hat memories of parental rearing (assessed with the PBI) were differen t in two groups of women; one group with non-bipolar depressive disord er (DSM-III-R) was compared with a control group of healthy women from primary practice setting. We also analysed if there was a greater amo unt of real loss in the childhood of depressed group compared with the control. Our results support the first hypothesis. We discuss the sig nificance of these findings that could act as risk factors to developm ent of depressive disorders in adulthood.