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Parenthood is a Real Downer Bundles of joy or harbingers of gloom? Studies show children can raise the risk of lifelong depression in parents. 
Being parents provides a one-way ticket to lifelong depression, according to social scientists who found that parents have higher rates of the condition than nonparents. Even empty-nesters, whose kids have grown up and moved on, suffer depression more than nonparents do, likely because they are involved in their adult children’s lives and are concerned about what happens to them, says the study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, which also included single parents, stepparents and parents with minors at home. “Unlike other major adult social roles in the United States, parenthood does not appear to confer a mental health advantage for individuals,” write researchers Ranae Evenson of Vanderbilt University and Robin Simon of Florida State, referring the positive wellness benefits of marriage and being employed. But among all parents, those with little kids (whether biological, step or adopted) at home were less depressed than other parents. “Young children are in some ways emotionally easier,” Simon says. “Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems.” The news isn’t all bad, though, Simon says. These results are just a wakeup call to review how we approach parenting, such as accepting more help from extended family members and the community. “It’s how we do parenting in this society,” Simon says. “We do it in a very isolated way, and the onus is on us as individuals to get it right. Our successes are our own, but so are our failures. Its emotionally draining.”
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