Amy Sands1, Ellen J Thompson1, Darya Gaysina2. 1. EDGE Lab, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK. 2. EDGE Lab, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK. Electronic address: D.Gaysina@sussex.ac.uk.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of divorce in Western countries has increased in recent decades. However, there is no recent systematic review and/or meta-analysis of studies testing for long-term effects of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders. The present study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published since 1980 testing for the association between parental divorce and offspring depression and anxiety in adulthood. METHOD: PUBMED, Science Direct, Medline, PsychInfo, and PsychArticles databases were searched for eligible studies. Random-effect meta-analyses were used to synthesize effect sizes and to test whether associations of parental divorce with offspring affective disorders differed among three publication periods (i.e., before 1996, 1996-2005, 2006-2015). RESULTS: In total, 29 studies were eligible for the systematic review, and 18 studies were included in the meta-analyses (depression: n=21,581; anxiety: n=2472). There was significant association between parental divorce and offspring depression (OR=1.56; 95%CI [1.31, 1.86]), but not anxiety (OR=1.16; 95%CI [0.98, 1.38]). The effect of parental divorce on offspring depression was not weaker in the reports published in more recent decades. LIMITATIONS: There is limited research in relation to offspring anxiety in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Parental divorce is associated with an increased risk of adult offspring depression, with no indication of the effect being weaker in recent publications.
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of divorce in Western countries has increased in recent decades. However, there is no recent systematic review and/or meta-analysis of studies testing for long-term effects of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders. The present study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published since 1980 testing for the association between parental divorce and offspring depression and anxiety in adulthood. METHOD: PUBMED, Science Direct, Medline, PsychInfo, and PsychArticles databases were searched for eligible studies. Random-effect meta-analyses were used to synthesize effect sizes and to test whether associations of parental divorce with offspring affective disorders differed among three publication periods (i.e., before 1996, 1996-2005, 2006-2015). RESULTS: In total, 29 studies were eligible for the systematic review, and 18 studies were included in the meta-analyses (depression: n=21,581; anxiety: n=2472). There was significant association between parental divorce and offspring depression (OR=1.56; 95%CI [1.31, 1.86]), but not anxiety (OR=1.16; 95%CI [0.98, 1.38]). The effect of parental divorce on offspring depression was not weaker in the reports published in more recent decades. LIMITATIONS: There is limited research in relation to offspring anxiety in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Parental divorce is associated with an increased risk of adult offspring depression, with no indication of the effect being weaker in recent publications.
Authors: Anna Lähdepuro; Katri Savolainen; Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen; Johan G Eriksson; Jari Lahti; Soile Tuovinen; Eero Kajantie; Anu-Katriina Pesonen; Kati Heinonen; Katri Räikkönen Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2019-03-13 Impact factor: 4.379