Dong Xiaowei, Ng Nawi, Jacobsson Lars, Santosa Ailiana
School of Aging Services and Management, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institution of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Innov Aging. 2025 Mar 8;9(5):igaf022. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igaf022. eCollection 2025.
This study aims to examine the causal effect of adult children's marital status on parental depressive symptoms in the Chinese context, and whether parents' demographic characteristics play a role in the association.
We utilized the 5 waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study spanning over 9 years. The participants were categorized into 3 distinct groups: (1) the individuals with at least 1 divorced adult child; (2) those with at least 1 unmarried child aged 30 or older; and(3) a reference group consisting of those not meeting criteria for the first 2 categories. We employed marginal structural models to estimate the causal effect of adult children's marital status and parental depressive symptoms.
In total, 13,077 participants were included in the analysis. Parents with divorced adult children (β = 1.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.28-1.82) and those with marriage-delayed children (β = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.53-1.13) had an increased risk of depressive symptoms when compared to the reference group. When the number of divorced or marriage-delayed adult children was included, the coefficient for parental depressive symptoms was 1.10 (95% CI: 0.92-1.28).
This study provides evidence that adult children's divorce and delayed marriage are associated with parental depressive symptoms in the Chinese context. This research helps uncover culturally significant risk factors for late-life depression, necessitating enhanced psychological support and preventive strategies to address the needs of vulnerable groups.
本研究旨在探讨在中国背景下成年子女的婚姻状况对父母抑郁症状的因果效应，以及父母的人口统计学特征在这种关联中是否起作用。
我们利用了跨越9年的5轮中国健康与养老追踪调查。参与者被分为3个不同的组：（1）至少有1个成年子女离婚的个体；（2）至少有1个30岁及以上未婚子女的个体；（3）一个由不符合前两类标准的个体组成的参照组。我们采用边际结构模型来估计成年子女婚姻状况与父母抑郁症状之间的因果效应。
总共有13,077名参与者纳入分析。与参照组相比，有成年子女离婚的父母（β = 1.55，95%置信区间[CI]：1.28 - 1.82）以及有子女晚婚的父母（β = 0.83，95% CI：0.53 - 1.13）出现抑郁症状的风险增加。当纳入离婚或晚婚成年子女的数量时，父母抑郁症状的系数为1.10（95% CI：0.92 - 1.28）。
本研究提供了证据表明在中国背景下成年子女的离婚和晚婚与父母的抑郁症状有关。这项研究有助于揭示晚年抑郁症在文化上具有重要意义的风险因素，需要加强心理支持和预防策略以满足弱势群体的需求。
