Gender differences in the risk of depressive disorders following the loss of a young child: a nationwide population-based longitudinal study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Losing a child to death is one of the most stressful life events experienced in adulthood. The aim of the current study is to investigate parental risk of seeking treatment for major depression disorders (MDD) after a child's death and to explore whether such connection may operate differentially by parents' prior medical condition.

Methods

We studied a retrospective cohort of 7245 parents (2987 mothers and 4258 fathers) identified in the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan (NHIRD) who had lost a child with age between 1 and 12 years. For comparison, the parents of 1:4 birth year- and gender-matched non-deceased children were retrieved (16,512 mothers and 17,753 fathers). Gender-specific Cox regression analyses were performed to estimate risk.

SUBMITTER: Chen HH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8377956 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature