Pathways of intergenerational transmission of depression: The role of the Fast Track intervention

Although depression can be transmitted across generations, less is known about how this cycle can be interrupted. This study examines whether the multilevel Fast Track intervention (clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01653535) disrupts intergenerational transmission of depression. Children at high risk for aggression were randomly assigned to a 10-year control group or intervention targeting parenting and children's intrapersonal, interpersonal, and academic skills. The original sample included 891 first-generation (G1) participants who reported on their depression and their children's (second-generation; G2) internalizing problems. At age 34, 374 G2 participants (<i>n</i> = 191 intervention, <i>n</i> = 183 control) reported on their and their children's (third-generation; G3) emotional difficulties. Mediated path models showed that a cascading model where higher G1 depressive symptoms influence higher G2 childhood depressive symptoms, leading to higher G2 adulthood depressive symptoms, which in turn is connected with greater G3 emotional difficulties, emerged only in the control group. The Fast Track intervention disrupted the pathways from G1 depressive symptoms to G3 emotional difficulties, from G2 childhood depressive symptoms to G2 adulthood depressive symptoms, and from G2 adulthood depressive symptoms to G3 emotional difficulties, highlighting the importance of preventive interventions in altering developmental trajectories of psychopathology.