Recent research has shown that children who have had a stressful childhood are more likely to develop depression later on in life. The research was conducted at Mount Sinai hospital where they exposed baby mice to stressful incidences. After fully grown, they were put into a second situation where they faced stress again. The result showed that the mice had developed depression related symptoms which changed parts of their DNA. The research has given them insight to how children who go through stressful childhoods may grow up to develop depression.

Key Takeaways:

• Stress in childhood may put people at a greater risk of depression in later life by permanently changing DNA, new research suggests.
• Mice exposed to stressful situations as newborns are more likely to show signs of depression when faced with another challenging scenario when fully grown, a study found.
• Lead author Dr Catherine Peña from Mount Sinai hospital in New York, said: 'Our work identifies a molecular basis for stress during a sensitive developmental window'

"Researchers believe stress in early life may increase our lifelong risk of suffering from the mental health disorder by altering the DNA that is related to mood and depression."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4611184/Stress-childhood-cause-depression-later-life.html