Alexandros Giannelis1, Alish Palmos2, Saskia P Hagenaars2, Gerome Breen2, Cathryn M Lewis3, Julian Mutz4. 1. Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. 2. Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom. 3. Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, London, United Kingdom. 4. Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: julian.mutz@gmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: We examined associations between family status (living with a spouse or partner and number of children) and lifetime depression. METHODS: We used data from the UK Biobank, a large prospective study of middle-aged and older adults. Lifetime depression was assessed as part of a follow-up mental health questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between family status and depression. We included extensive adjustment for social, demographic and other potential confounders, including depression polygenic risk scores. RESULTS: 52,078 participants (mean age = 63.6, SD = 7.6; 52% female) were included in our analyses. Living with a spouse or partner was associated with substantially lower odds of lifetime depression (OR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.62-0.74). Compared to individuals without children, we found higher odds of lifetime depression for parents of one child (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.07-1.27) and parents of three (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.03-1.20) or four or more children (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.14-1.42). Amongst those not cohabiting, having any number of children was associated with higher odds of lifetime depression. Our results were consistent across age groups, the sexes, neighbourhood deprivation and genetic risk for depression. Exploratory Mendelian randomisation analyses suggested a causal effect of number of children on lifetime depression. LIMITATIONS: Our data did not allow distinguishing between non-marital and marital cohabitation. Results may not generalise to all ages or populations. CONCLUSIONS: Living with a spouse or partner was strongly associated with reduced odds of depression. Having one or three or more children was associated with increased odds of depression, especially in individuals not living with a spouse or partner.
BACKGROUND: We examined associations between family status (living with a spouse or partner and number of children) and lifetime depression. METHODS: We used data from the UK Biobank, a large prospective study of middle-aged and older adults. Lifetime depression was assessed as part of a follow-up mental health questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between family status and depression. We included extensive adjustment for social, demographic and other potential confounders, including depression polygenic risk scores. RESULTS: 52,078 participants (mean age = 63.6, SD = 7.6; 52% female) were included in our analyses. Living with a spouse or partner was associated with substantially lower odds of lifetime depression (OR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.62-0.74). Compared to individuals without children, we found higher odds of lifetime depression for parents of one child (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.07-1.27) and parents of three (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.03-1.20) or four or more children (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.14-1.42). Amongst those not cohabiting, having any number of children was associated with higher odds of lifetime depression. Our results were consistent across age groups, the sexes, neighbourhood deprivation and genetic risk for depression. Exploratory Mendelian randomisation analyses suggested a causal effect of number of children on lifetime depression. LIMITATIONS: Our data did not allow distinguishing between non-marital and marital cohabitation. Results may not generalise to all ages or populations. CONCLUSIONS: Living with a spouse or partner was strongly associated with reduced odds of depression. Having one or three or more children was associated with increased odds of depression, especially in individuals not living with a spouse or partner.
Authors: Laura Andrade; Jorge J Caraveo-Anduaga; Patricia Berglund; Rob V Bijl; Ron De Graaf; Wilma Vollebergh; Eva Dragomirecka; Robert Kohn; Martin Keller; Ronald C Kessler; Norito Kawakami; Cengiz Kiliç; David Offord; T Bedirhan Ustun; Hans-Ulrich Wittchen Journal: Int J Methods Psychiatr Res Date: 2003 Impact factor: 4.035