Background: Nationally representative data to measure mental health is rare in South Africa.
Estimates of the size of the intergenerational transmission of depression in Africa, and in South
Africa, are not numerous, in particular using recent nationally representative data, or in the
adolescent sample. South Africa has high rates of depression compared to other countries, in
particular among adolescents. Very little mental health treatment is available to adolescents,
and the results of poor mental health during adolescence are many - including earlier child
bearing, poor education, higher levels of HIV infection and low rates of future employment,
among others.
Methods: Using the South African National Income Dynamics Survey, a nationally representative
panel data set, we estimate the size of the intergenerational transmission of depression,
in particular among adolescents. The CES-D 10 score is used to determine the presence of
depression among individuals.
Findings: We find that the size of the intergenerational transmission coefficient is large.
On average, 17% of South African teenagers suffer from depression. This figure increases to
approximately 50% for teens whose parents suffer from depression. In addition, the direction
of causality appears to run strongly from parent to child, and the mental health of parents in
the current period is the most important determinant of teen mental health, as opposed to the
mental health of parents in previous time periods.
Interpretation: Untreated mental illness in parents results in significantly higher levels
of mental illness in teens. Increased detection and treatment is important to prevent poor
outcomes in later years.