Maternal experienced bereavement and offspring mental health in early adulthood: the role of modifiable parental factors.

Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0375361 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1469-7610 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00219630 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Child Psychol Psychiatry Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 2002- : Oxford : Blackwell Publishers
Original Publication: Oxford ; New York : Pergamon Press

Bereavement* ; Anxiety Disorders*/epidemiology ; Mothers*/psychology; Humans ; Female ; Adolescent ; Longitudinal Studies ; Child ; Male ; Adult ; Parenting/psychology ; Depressive Disorder/epidemiology ; United Kingdom ; Child of Impaired Parents/psychology ; Child of Impaired Parents/statistics & numerical data

Background: It is estimated that 78% of children experience the death of a close friend or family member by 16 years of age, yet longitudinal research examining the mental health outcomes of wider experiences of bereavement is scarce. We conducted a longitudinal investigation of the association between maternal experienced bereavement before the age of 11 years and offspring depressive and anxiety disorders at age 18 and examined moderation of this association by modifiable parental factors.
Methods: We analysed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a UK-based birth cohort, including 9,088 child participants with data available on bereavement. Bereavement was measured via maternal report at eight timepoints until children were 11 years. Offspring depressive and anxiety-related disorders were self-reported at 18 years old using the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised (CIS-R). The potential moderating roles of maternal anxiety, maternal depression, parental monitoring, positive parenting and negative parenting practices were examined.
Results: Maternal experienced bereavement was not associated with depression or anxiety-related disorders in early adulthood among offspring. In addition, no support was found for negative parenting practices, parental monitoring or maternal anxiety and depression as moderators of the relationship between maternal experienced bereavement and offspring mental health problems at 18 years old. Findings in relation to the moderating role of positive parenting practices were inconsistent.
Conclusions: Findings suggest that a large number of children are exposed to maternal experienced bereavement. We found no evidence that maternal experienced bereavement during childhood increases the risk for offspring psychiatric disorders in early adulthood. Several methodological considerations prudent to bereavement research are discussed.
(© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

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Keywords: Bereavement; adolescence; epidemiology; mental health; parenting

Date Created: 20240224 Date Completed: 20240818 Latest Revision: 20240818

20240819

10.1111/jcpp.13963

38400700