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Time Does Not Heal All Wounds: Mortality Following the Death of a Parent
Abstract
People linked through social ties are known to have interdependent health. Our aim was to investigate such collateral health effects in the context of offspring mortality after a parent's death in children aged 10–59 years. The data (N = 3,753,368) were from a linked-registers database that contains the total Swedish population. In minor children, we found elevations in mortality risks associated with a parent's death. Adult offspring experienced a reduced mortality risk recently after a parent's death, which over time approached, and in some instances even exceeded, that of the general population. Mother's death tended to have a stronger influence than father's death, unnatural parental deaths had a stronger effect than natural ones, and male offspring were more vulnerable than female offspring.
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“The loss of a first-degree family member significantly increases the risk of mortality, disease, and suicide for the mourner (2–6).”
From Ayahuasca-assisted meaning reconstruction therapy for grief: a non-randomized clinical trial protocol (2025) · cites this paper as [4]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Rostila, M., & Saarela, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Centre for Health Equity Studies (SE)
- Åbo Akademi University (FI)
- Corresponding author
- Rostila, Mikael
- Venue
- Journal of Marriage and Family
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-01-10
- Volume
- 73
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 236-249
- ISSN
- 0022-2445 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2053685455
- Cited by
- 125
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 8.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Marriage and the Family (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family Support in Illness
- Keywords
- parental death, offspring mortality, intergenerational health, social ties, mother's death, father's death, unnatural death, sex differences, children
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