Cited by 144Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentMaternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumFamily Support in Illness

Associations of parental depression with child school performance at age 16 years in Sweden

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Shen, Hanyang, Magnusson, Cecilia, Rai, Dheeraj, Lundberg, Michael, Lê-Scherban, Félice, Dalman, Christina, Lee, Brian K.·2016·JAMA Psychiatry

Abstract

IMPORTANCE: Depression is a common cause of morbidity and disability worldwide. Parental depression is associated with early-life child neurodevelopmental, behavioral, emotional, mental, and social problems. More studies are needed to explore the link between parental depression and long-term child outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of parental depression with child school performance at the end of compulsory education (approximately age 16 years). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Parental depression diagnoses (based on the International Classification of Diseases, Eighth Revision [ICD-8], International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision [ICD-9], and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision [ICD-10]) in inpatient records from 1969 onward, outpatient records beginning in 2001, and school grades at the end of compulsory education were collected for all children born from 1984 to 1994 in Sweden. The final analytic sample size was 1,124,162 biological children. We examined the associations of parental depression during different periods (before birth, after birth, and during child ages 1-5, 6-10, and 11-16 years, as well as any time before the child's final year of compulsory schooling) with the final school grades. Linear regression models adjusted for various child and parent characteristics. The dates of the analysis were January to November 2015. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE: Decile of school grades at the end of compulsory education (range, 1-10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest). RESULTS: The study cohort comprised 1,124,162 children, of whom 48.9% were female. Maternal depression and paternal depression at any time before the final compulsory school year were associated with worse school performance. After covariate adjustment, these associations decreased to -0.45 (95% CI, -0.48 to -0.42) and -0.40 (-0.43 to -0.37) lower deciles, respectively. These effect sizes are similarly as large as the observed difference in school performance between the lowest and highest quintiles of family income but approximately one-third of the observed difference between maternal education of 9 or less vs more than 12 years. Both maternal depression and paternal depression at different periods (before birth, after birth, and during child ages 1-5, 6-10, and 11-16 years) generally were associated with worse school performance. Child sex modified the associations of maternal depression with school performance such that maternal depression had a larger negative influence on child school performance for girls compared with boys. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Diagnoses of parental depression throughout a child's life were associated with worse school performance at age 16 years. Our results suggest that diagnoses of parental depression may have a far-reaching effect on an important aspect of child development, with implications for future life course outcomes.

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  • While there are a number of criticisms about the accuracy of disability weights it is doubtlessly true that depression is a highly burdensome condition and other studies have confirmed that the disability is experienced as one of the most severe of all health conditions.

    “While there are a number of criticisms about the accuracy of disability weights 215-217 it is doubtlessly true that depression is a highly burdensome condition and other studies have confirmed that the disability is experienced as one of the most severe of all health conditions.”

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Authors
Shen, H., Magnusson, C., Rai, D., Lundberg, M., Lê-Scherban, F., Dalman, C., & Lee, B. K.
Affiliations
  • Drexel University (US)
  • Region Stockholm (SE)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
  • Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Karolinska Institutet (SE)
Corresponding author
Lee, Brian K.
Venue
JAMA Psychiatry
Published
2016-03-01
Volume
73
Issue
3
Pages
239
ISSN
2168-622X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2260664678
Cited by
144
References
68
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 5
FWCI
15.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • JAMA Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Vetenskapsrådet
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Family Support in Illness
Keywords
parental depression, maternal depression, paternal depression, academic performance, compulsory education, family environment, socioeconomic deprivation, birth cohort, Sweden, child mental health, child behavior problems, child emotional problems, child social problems
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Depression, Fathers, Female, Humans, Infant, Learning, Male, Middle Aged, Mothers, Parents, Sex Factors, Sweden, Time Factors, Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic

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