A research work presented at the ECNP congress in Vienna, revealed that strict parenting, including physical punishment and psychological manipulation, could bring changes in the genes and raise the risk of developing depression.

The researchers compared 21 teens who claimed their parents were good parents against 23 teenagers who said their parents were tough parents and too much strict.

With a mean age of 14 for both categories, the teenage population was evenly distributed between 12 and 16 years old. Many participants who experienced tight parenting exhibited preclinical early signs of depression.

The range of methylation was then assessed across more than 450,000 sites in each subjects DNA, and the researchers found that it was significantly higher in persons who reported having experienced a challenging upbringing. Increased methylation variation has been associated with depression.

Researchers stated that the DNA remains unchanged, but these extra chemical groups have an impact on how the DNAs instructions are read. The predisposition towards depression was more pronounced in those who reported stricter parenting, and this tendency has been incorporated into their DNA through higher methylation variation.

Thus, scientists concluded that by changing the way your DNA is read, early stress might contribute to a general inclination towards depression in later life. However, more studies were needed in a bigger sample size to confirm these findings.

(Source: https://theprint.in/features/strict-parenting-can-genetically-lead-children-to-depression-study/1178723/)