Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Public Health, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Stress Health. 2024 Jun;40(3):e3322. doi: 10.1002/smi.3322. Epub 2023 Oct 13.
Experiencing parental death during childhood is an adverse, potentially traumatic experience that may have substantial long-term effects on mental and physical well-being. The current study was based on data of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety to investigate mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and suicidal ideation) and physical health outcomes (i.e., metabolic syndrome, telomere length, and perceived physical health) as well as health behaviour (i.e., smoking status, alcohol use, and physical activity) to provide more insight into the long-term outcomes after experiencing childhood parental death (CPD). For individuals who experienced CPD, we also investigated the role of loss-related factors in these associations, namely the age of the child when their parent passed away and gender of the deceased parent. Interviews and questionnaires were completed by adults between 18 and 65 years; 177 participants experienced CPD (mean age = 45.19, 61.6% female) and 2463 did not (mean age = 41.38, 66.6% female). Results showed no overall association between the experience of CPD and mental and physical health indices and health behaviour. Within the CPD group, experiencing CPD at a younger age was related to a higher likelihood of suicidal ideation. These findings seem to illustrate a general positive adjustment with regard to long-term health functioning after experiencing such an impactful life event. Future research should focus on individual differences in terms of adaptation, especially elucidating on contextual factors after the loss, such as the kind of support that is or is not provided by the surviving parent and/or other important individuals.
儿童时期经历父母去世是一种不利的、潜在的创伤性经历，可能对心理和身体健康产生重大的长期影响。本研究基于荷兰抑郁和焦虑研究的数据，调查心理健康（即抑郁症状、焦虑症状和自杀意念）和身体健康结果（即代谢综合征、端粒长度和感知身体健康）以及健康行为（即吸烟状况、饮酒和体育活动），以更深入了解经历儿童期父母去世（CPD）后的长期后果。对于经历过 CPD 的个体，我们还调查了与损失相关的因素在这些关联中的作用，即孩子父母去世时的年龄和已故父母的性别。18 至 65 岁的成年人完成了访谈和问卷调查；177 名参与者经历了 CPD（平均年龄为 45.19 岁，女性占 61.6%），2463 名参与者没有经历过 CPD（平均年龄为 41.38 岁，女性占 66.6%）。结果表明，CPD 的经历与心理健康和身体健康指数以及健康行为之间没有总体关联。在 CPD 组中，年轻时经历 CPD 与自杀意念的可能性更高相关。这些发现似乎说明了在经历如此重大的生活事件后，长期健康功能的一般积极调整。未来的研究应侧重于适应方面的个体差异，特别是阐明失去亲人后的背景因素，例如幸存父母和/或其他重要人物提供或不提供的支持类型。
