impairment (MCI) progress less often and less rapidly todementia than do abstainers (Solfrizzi et al., 2007).

References:Reynolds, K., Lewis, L.B., Nolen, J.D.L., et al.,

2003. Alcohol consumption and the risk of stroke: ameta-analysis. JAMA 289, 579–588.

Pinder, R.M., Sandler, M., 2004. Alcohol, wine andmental health: focus on dementia and stroke. J. Psycho-pharmacol. 18, 449–456.

Solfrizzi, V., D'Intrino, A., Colacicco, A., et al.,2007. Alcohol consumption, mild cognitive impairment,and progression to dementia. Neurology 68, 1790–9.

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2007.12.177

Symposium 6

The intergenerational transmission ofaffective disorders

Symposium Leader: Peter CooperUniversity of Reading, UK6 (overview)

Both depression and anxiety disorders are stronglyfamilial, and both top down and bottom up studies revealsubstantial intergenerational transmission. The pro-cesses by which such transmission is effected, and theextent to which genetic and environmental factors areimplicated, are poorly understood. Longitudinal researchprovides a powerful means of elucidating causal proces-ses. A group of five researchers who have collaborated inresearch in this field for several years will present papersconcerned with the intergenerational transmission ofboth depression and anxiety. The focus will be on themechanisms by which disorder is transmitted fromparent to child. The research presented will focus onstudies of depression and social phobia and will be basedon samples studied longitudinally in Cambridge, Read-ing and Bristol. Biological, cognitive, socio-emotional,and environmental risk factors for disorder will beexamined, and questions such as whether there exist‘sensitive periods’ in development during which envir-onmental exposures may have a particular impact will beconsidered. There will be four papers: (i) The impact ofmaternal postpartum depression on adolescent HPA axisfunction and mood disturbance: the Cambridge long-itudinal study. (ii) Sex differentiated effects of a historyof maternal depression on risk of depression in offspring.(iii) Depressive symptoms in men in the post-natalperiod and their associations with later child psycho-

pathology. (iv) Intergenerational transmission of socialphobia: evidence from longitudinal and experimentalstudies.

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2007.12.178

6.1 The impact of maternal postpartum depressionon adolescent HPA axis function and mooddisturbance: The Cambridge longitudinal study

S. Halligana,⁎, P.J. Coopera, J. Herbertb,I. Goodyerb, L. MurrayaaUniversity of Reading, UKbUniversity of Cambridge, UK

Aim: To examine the role of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis in the intergenerational transmissionof depression.Background: Longitudinal research has revealed a rangeof adverse outcomes in the offspring of depressed moth-ers, spanning infancy through adolescence; and ulti-mately, maternal depression is associated with elevatedrisk for depression in offspring. However, little is knownabout which of the disturbances observed in associationwith maternal depression are relevant to the developmentof offspring depression. Animal research shows that earlyparenting experiences can influenceHPA axis functioningin adulthood. If a similar phenomenon operates inhumans, this suggests a biological mechanism by whichearly maternal disorder may transmit risk for majordepression, as depression impairs parenting, and HPAaxis disturbances are associated with the development ofthis disorder. We studied the role of the HPA axis in theintergenerational transmission of depressive disorder.Methods: We present data from a prospective longi-tudinal study of postnatally depressed and well women,and their offspring. 52 mothers with and 48 motherswithout postnatal depression, were recruited in thepostnatal period and assessed at multiple time points,spanning 2 months postpartum to 16 years offspring age.We report on mother–infant interactions, assessed viaobservations at 2, 4, 6 and 9 months postpartum; onoffspring salivary cortisol collections completed over10 days at 13 years; and on depressive symptoms inoffspring measured at 16 years of age.Results:Maternal postnatal depression was associatedwith higher, more variable morning cortisol secretion inoffspring. Furthermore, elevated morning cortisol secre-tion at 13 years predicted elevated depressive symptomsat 16 years, and mediated an association between

S32 Abstracts / Journal of Affective Disorders 107 (2008) S21–S52