Centre for Academic Mental Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.
J Affect Disord. 2022 Oct 1;314:150-159. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.07.016. Epub 2022 Jul 14.
High prevalence of parental separation and resulting biological father absence raises important questions regarding its impact on offspring mental health across the life course. We specifically examined whether these relationships vary by sex and the timing of exposure to father absence (early or middle childhood).
This study is based on up to 8409 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Participants provided self-reports of depression (Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised) at age 24 years and depressive symptoms (Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) between the ages of 10 and 24 years. Biological father absence in childhood was assessed through maternal questionnaires at regular intervals from birth to 10 years. We estimated the association between biological father absence and trajectories of depressive symptoms using multilevel growth-curve modelling.
Early but not middle childhood father absence was strongly associated with increased odds of offspring depression and greater depressive symptoms at age 24 years. Early childhood father absence was associated with higher trajectories of depressive symptoms during adolescence and early adulthood compared with father presence. Differences in the level of depressive symptoms between middle childhood father absent and father present groups narrowed into adulthood.
This study could be biased by attrition and residual confounding.
We found evidence that father absence in childhood is persistently associated with offspring depression in adolescence and early adulthood. This relationship varies by sex and timing of father's departure, with early childhood father absence emerging as the strongest risk factor for adverse offspring mental health trajectories Further research is needed to identify mechanisms that could inform preventative interventions to reduce the risk of depression in children who experience father absence.
父母离异及其导致的生物学父亲缺失的高发生率，引发了一系列重要问题，即其对后代整个生命历程中心理健康的影响。我们特别研究了这些关系是否因性别和暴露于父亲缺失的时间（儿童早期或中期）而有所不同。
本研究基于多达 8409 名来自阿冯纵向父母与子女研究（ALSPAC）的儿童。参与者在 24 岁时通过临床访谈量表修订版（Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised）报告抑郁情况，在 10 至 24 岁之间通过短情绪和感觉问卷（Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire）报告抑郁症状。通过母亲在出生到 10 岁期间的定期问卷评估儿童时期生物学父亲的缺失情况。我们使用多层次增长曲线模型来估计生物学父亲缺失与抑郁症状轨迹之间的关联。
与父亲中期缺失相比，儿童早期的父亲缺失与后代抑郁的几率增加和 24 岁时的抑郁症状更严重密切相关。与父亲存在的情况相比，儿童早期的父亲缺失与青春期和成年早期更高的抑郁症状轨迹相关。父亲中期缺失和父亲存在的儿童组之间的抑郁症状水平差异在成年期缩小。
本研究可能存在样本流失和残余混杂的偏倚。
我们有证据表明，儿童时期的父亲缺失与青春期和成年早期的后代抑郁持续相关。这种关系因性别和父亲离开的时间而有所不同，儿童早期的父亲缺失成为不良后代心理健康轨迹的最强风险因素。需要进一步研究以确定机制，以便为经历父亲缺失的儿童提供预防干预措施，降低其患抑郁症的风险。
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