BACKGROUND Although many case-control studies have replicated an association between dysfunctional parenting and a lifetime diagnosis of depression, few epidemiological studies have explored the association. In addition, little is known about the association in non-western countries. METHODS Using logistic regression analyses, additive and interactive contributions of parental child-rearing behaviours, as measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), toward the risk for having a lifetime diagnosis of major depressive disorder were explored in 418 employed Japanese adults. The diagnosis was provided by using the Inventory to Diagnose Depression, lifetime version. The analyses were conducted for male and female subjects separately. RESULTS Parental care rather than parental protection was primary in predicting lifetime depression in both male and female subjects. An interactive combination of low care and high protection ('affectionless control') was a significant risk factor for lifetime depression in male respondents' reporting child-rearing behaviours of both parents and female respondents' reporting paternal child-rearing behaviours. Model improvements when entering the PBI scores were larger in male subjects than in female subjects. CONCLUSIONS The results suggested that a combination of low care and over-protection increases a risk to lifetime depression even in a non-clinical sample; that an association between dysfunctional parenting (particularly low care) and the development of depression is independent of culture; and that Japanese boys are more sensitive than Japanese girls to dysfunctional parenting as regards the development of depression.