DEPRESSED CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES

This article reviews and synthesizes the literature on family variable s and interaction processes associated with child and adolescent depre ssion. The review focuses on two principal streams of literature: fami lies of depressed children and children of depressed parents. In regar d to the families of depressed children, specific attention is paid to familial psychopathology, demographic factors, negative life events, and family environment. The section on children of depressed parents a ddresses genetic contributions, maternal and paternal depression, and children's resilience in the face of parental depression. This is foll owed by a brief review of the literature on the influence of sibling r elationships in the manifestation of childhood depression. The article concludes with a discussion of the interaction between family environ ment and childhood depression.