Girls whose fathers were absent during their early childhood are more likely to suffer from depression during their adolescence, new research has suggested. According to the Children of the 90s study from the University of Bristol, these females are at greater risk of developing depressive symptoms than those whose dads left home when they were aged five to ten.

It was also shown that these girls were more likely to experience depression than boys whose fathers were absent in either age group.

Published in Psychological Medicine, the study included 5,631 children and the team said its findings support previous research that has pointed to a lack of coping mechanisms as the reason why young children are at heightened risk of developing the condition. 

Lead author of the paper Iryna Culpin said: "These findings indicate a need to include fathers in research related to child and adolescent mental health issues."

Commenting on the study, Dr Peter Martin, a Chartered Psychologist and Vice-Chair of the British Psychological Society's Division of Clinical Psychology, described the findings as interesting and added Finnish research from 1998 "indicates that men are more depressed in old age than women by the early loss of a mother and women are more likely to suffer depression in old age if they suffer early loss of father".