Child characteristics and parents' risk of depression in old age: The impact of number, sex and educational attainment

INTRODUCTION: Knowledge about the impact of having adult children on the risk of depression in old age is limited. This study aims to examine the association of having children and their characteristics (number, sex, and education) on their parents' risk of depression in old age.

METHODS: A main study population of all older adults (N = 1,064,652) born 1935-1953 and living in Denmark at the age of 65, were followed for up to 10 years for incident depression diagnosis or incident use of antidepressant medication in nationwide registers. Associations were estimated using adjusted Cox Proportional Hazards models.

RESULTS: During the mean follow-up time of 6.7 years, the incidence rate of depression in the main study population was 196 per 10,000 person-years (IR:196, 95 % CI: [195;197]). Compared to having children, not having children was associated with 8 % (HR: 0.92, 95%CI: [0.90;0.94]) lower HR of depression among older adults. For specific characteristics of adult children, having one child was associated with 3 % (HR: 1.03, 95%CI: [1.02;1.05]) higher HR of depression compared to having 2-3 children. 4+ children and sex of children were not associated with depression. Having adult children with a short or medium education, respectively, as the longest educational attainment were associated with 22 % (HR: 1.22, 95%CI: [1.19;1.25]) and 10 % (HR:1.10, 95%CI: [1.08;1.11]) higher HR of depression compared to having adult children with a long education.

CONCLUSION: Availability and characteristics, especially educational attainment, of adult children were identified to be associated with their parent's probability of being with depression in old age.