COMPARE Study

A study funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research on the prevention of transgenerational transmission of mental disorders

General information

At the Munich site, the study is being led by Prof. Dr. Corinna Reck, Lea Kaubisch, and Anamaria Semm (formerly: Dr. Christian Woll, Dr. Verena Labonte, Dr. Sophia Wriedt).

The COMPARE study (Children of Mentally Ill Parents at Risk Evaluation) has the following objectives:

  1. Reviewing the effectiveness of prevention measures for the transgenerational transmission of mental disorders.
  2. Identification of specific transmission mechanisms from parents to children, i.e., examination of individual mechanisms (e.g., emotion regulation).
  3. Review of a comprehensive model of transgenerational transmission of mental disorders based on the data to be obtained.

The study is divided into several subprojects, which are being carried out at various universities in Germany. We are cooperating with:

Phillips University of Marburg

University of Heidelberg

Justus Liebig University Giessen

  • Cooperation partner: Prof. Dr. Christina Schwenck
  • Cooperation partner: Prof. Dr. Rudolf Stark

Ruhr University Bochum

  • Collaboration partner: Prof. Dr. Sarah Weigelt

Dortmund University of Technology

  • Collaborative partners: Prof. Dr. Ricarda Steinmayr and Dr. Linda Wirthwein

At LMU in Munich, we are conducting the subproject "Interaction and Development."

Subproject "Interaction and Development" for families with newborns

The study is aimed at families with newborns whose mothers experience psychological stress during pregnancy or around the time of birth, but also at mothers who feel healthy and experience little psychological stress.

You are welcome to contact us even before the birth of your child. If you are interested in participating in the study, please contact:

Lea Kaubisch (M.Sc. Psychology)

  • Tel.: 089 2180 72530
  • Email: compare@psy.lmu.de

Information on the study being conducted at the Heidelberg site can be found on the Heidelberg University project homepage.

Theoretical background of the study

The planned study focuses on the intergenerational transmission pathways of maternal psychopathology and examines families during the first two years of the child's life in which the mothers suffered from depression and/or anxiety disorders during the peripartum period.

Maternal depression and anxiety disorders during the perinatal period pose a risk to child development. Comorbid disorders can be seen as a sign of greater severity, and it stands to reason that comorbid disorders increase the risk of internalizing disorders in offspring. However, to date, there are no studies that compare families in which mothers suffer from depression alone or from comorbid depression and anxiety disorders with a healthy control group. The planned study aims to close this research gap.

Objectives of the study

The study focuses on the effects of maternal psychopathology during the peripartum period on child development, taking into account the role of the father and parental couple interaction. Parent-child interaction, couple interaction between parents, and child stress reactivity are analyzed as possible intergenerational transmission pathways between maternal psychopathology (pure depression, comorbid depression and anxiety disorder, healthy control group) and child development.

The planned study aims to generate new insights into the specific effects of maternal psychopathology on various aspects of children's social and cognitive development and, in addition, to shed light on the underlying mediating effects in transmission, so that promising prevention and intervention approaches can be developed in the future. The following correlations will be examined:

  1. Maternal psychopathology, infant stress reactivity, and parent-child interaction at 3-4 months predict socio-emotional and cognitive infant development at 24 months.
  2. Maternal comorbid depression and anxiety disorders have a more negative impact on child development at 12, 18, and 24 months than depression alone.
  3. Parent-child interaction and child stress reactivity at 12 months of age mediate the relationship between maternal psychopathology at 3-4 months and child development at 14 months.

Procedure

This is a controlled longitudinal study without randomization. Randomization is not possible because the study has a quasi-experimental design: mothers are assigned to the appropriate group based on their perinatal mental illness.

The planned study will examine women with peripartum depression with and without comorbid anxiety disorders according to DSM-5 (Falkai & Wittchen, 2015) over a period of 24 months, as well as the fathers, children, and a healthy control group. The study will be conducted simultaneously at LMU Munich and Heidelberg University Hospital. It is scheduled to begin at the same time. The duration for both locations is 48 months. A total sample size of N=174 is targeted across both study locations. For the two clinical groups (purely depressive, comorbid anxiety disorder), a group size of n=29 subjects per location is to be achieved, as is the case for the healthy control group. The entire survey will take place at four measurement points.

Contact and address

If you are interested in participating in the study for the sub-project ‘Interaction and Development,’ please contact:

M.Sc.-Psych. Christian Woll

LMU München
Department Psychology
Psychotherapeutic university outpatient clinic for children, adolescents and parents with mental health issues
Leopoldstr. 44
80802 Munich

Underground lines: U3 or U6, Giselastraße stop (Martiusstraße exit)
Bus connections: 54, 58, 68, 154