The effect of offspring on depressive disorder among old adults: Evidence from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging from 2006 to 2012.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether having an offspring protects against or increases the risk of depressive disorders.


METHODS
Data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) from 2006 and 2012 was assessed using longitudinal data analysis. We have included 10,149 research subjects at baseline and estimated the prevalence of depressive disorders for those with children.


RESULTS
The number of offspring was from zero to five or more, and the composition of offspring is from zero boys and zero girls to two or more boys and two or more girls. For parents with zero offspring, the estimate for depressive disorder was 0.464 higher (SE: 0.123, p-value: 0.000, OR: 1.389; 95% CI: 1.176-1.640) and for parents with five or more offspring, the estimate for depressive disorder was 0.1 higher (SE: 0.104, p-value: 0.013, OR: 1.315; 95% CI: 1.150-1.504) compared to parents with two offspring. For parents with zero boys and zero girls, the estimate for depressive disorder was 0.599 higher (SE: 4.750, p-value: <0.0001, OR: 1.539; 95% CI: 1.298-1.825), and for parents with two or more boys and two or more girls, the estimate for depressive disorder was 1.328 higher (SE: 3.820, p-value: 0.000, OR: 1.328; 95% CI: 1.189-1.482) compared to parents with one boy and one girl.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that there is a large effect of offspring on the prevalence of depressive disorder, with significant positive effects for mothers. Fathers are at lower risk for depressive disorder than mothers, and the graph was U-shaped.
Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Jae-Hyun
JH
Kim
Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Sang Gyu
SG
Lee
Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Jaeyong
J
Shin
Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Young
Y
Choi
Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ecpark@yuhs.ac.
Eun-Cheol
EC
Park
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors
Depressive disorder; Offspring; Old adults