title: Parental separation in childhood and self-reported psychological health: A population-based study.
abstract: The aim of the present study is to investigate associations between parental separation/divorce during childhood, and self-reported psychological health, adjusting for social capital, social support, civil status and economic stress in childhood. A cross-sectional public health survey was conducted in the autumn of 2012 in Scania, southern Sweden, with a postal questionnaire with 28,029 participants aged 18-80. Associations between parental separation/divorce during childhood and self-reported psychological health (GHQ12) were investigated using logistic regressions. A 16.1% proportion of all men 22.4% of all women reported poor psychological health. Among men, 20.4% had experienced parental separation during childhood until age 18 years, the corresponding prevalence among women was 22.3%. Parental separation/divorce in childhood was significantly associated with poor self-rated psychological health among men who had experienced parental separation/divorce at ages 0-4, and among women with this experience at ages 0-4, 10-14 and 15-18. These significant associations remained throughout the multiple analyses. The results support the notion that the experience of parental separation/divorce in childhood may influence psychological health in adulthood, particularly if it is experienced in the age interval 0-4 years.
authors.affiliation: Social Medicine and Health Policy, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, S-205 02 Malmö, Sweden; Centre for Economic Demography, Lund University, Sweden. Electronic address: martin.lindstrom@med.lu.se.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindström
authors.affiliation: Social Medicine and Health Policy, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, S-205 02 Malmö, Sweden; Centre for Economic Demography, Lund University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosvall
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D057566:Self Report; D066270:Social Capital; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Divorce; Mental health; Parental separation; Psychological health; Social capital; Social support; Sweden