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Children’s impact on the mental health of their older mothers and fathers: findings from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

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Abstract

The relation between social support and mental health has been thoroughly researched and structural characteristics of the social network have been widely recognised as being an important component of social support. The aim of this paper is to clarify the association between children and depressive mood states of their older parents. Based on international comparative data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe we analysed how the number of children, their proximity and the frequency of contact between older parents and their children are associated with the mental health of older people, using the EURO-D index. Our results indicate a positive association of children and depressive mood since childless men and women report more depressive symptoms. Moreover, few contacts with children were associated with an increased number of depressive symptoms. The family status was related to mental health as well: older men and women living with a spouse or partner had the lowest levels of depression. Interestingly, the presence of a spouse or partner was more relevant for the mental health of older people than the presence of, or contact with, their children.

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Notes

  1. Interestingly, the low scores for mental health problems in Finland stand in contrast with the fact that Finland has one of the highest suicide rates indicating that in this country, self-reports stand in contrast to behaviour, but might also be a problem with the assessment of “mental health”.

  2. Moreover, data were collected in Israel in 2005/06. However, they were not included in the current analysis due to missing individual weights.

  3. Collecting SHARE data was primarily funded by the European Commission within the 5th Framework Programme (project QLK6-CT-2001-00360 in the thematic programme area Quality of Life). Additional funding came from the US National Institute on Aging (U01 AG09740-13S2, P01 AG005842, P01 AG08291, P30 AG12815, Y1-AG-4553-01 and OGHA 04-064). Data collection in Austria (through the Austrian Science Foundation, FWF, grant number P-15422), Belgium (through the Belgian Science Policy Office) and Switzerland (through BBW/OFES/UFES) was nationally funded. The SHARE data collection in Israel was funded by the US National Institute on Aging (R21 AG025169), by the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (G.I.F), and by the National Insurance Institute of Israel. Further support by the European Commission provided within the 6th Framework Programme (projects SHARE-I3, RII-CT-2006-062193, and COMPARE, 028857) is gratefully acknowledged. The SHARE dataset is presented in detail in Börsch-Supan et al. (2005a) and Börsch-Supan and Jürges (2005).

  4. See also http://www.share-project.org/index.php?page=Sample&menue=2&sub=.

  5. Geriatric Mental State-AGECAT (GMS-AGECAT), SHORT-CARE, Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS), Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS).

  6. For reliability purposes, internal consistency was assessed by calculating the inter-item correlations, the item-total correlations and the standardised alpha values. “In each centre, the EURO-D seemed to be adequately internally consistent, although the inter-item and item-total correlations and the standardised alpha value were higher for the CES-D EURO-D than for the GMS EURO-D” (Prince et al. 1999a, p 333). The criterion validity of the EURO-D scales was assessed by comparing the EURO-D scale with the CES-D, CIDI, GMS-AGECAT or CES-D scales. “Agreement with continuous measures was assessed by Spearman non-parametric correlations, and for dichotomous measures by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve” (Prince et al. 1999a, p. 332).

  7. The symptoms of depression included in our analyses were chosen by an international consortium including physicians. Admitting to feeling sad and depressed, having problems with sleeping, tearfulness and the wish to be dead are clearly signs of depression and having several of these symptoms is obviously a sign of poor mental health. On its homepage, the National Institute of Mental Health lists ten symptoms, all of which are included in our analysis. It recommends that “[i]f five or more of these symptoms are present every day for at least two weeks and interfere with routine daily activities such as work, self-care, and childcare or social life, seek an evaluation for depression” (see http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depcancer.cfm).

  8. The Austrian data showed differences in the distribution of educational level. Compared to the microcensus 2003, groups with higher education were overrepresented in the Austrian SHARE data. This phenomenon is frequently observed in surveys and might also hold true for other countries.

  9. For the items “guilt”, “interest” and “appetite”: those who gave a non-specific response or an unclear answer were asked a second question.

  10. Those who replied they found it difficult to concentrate in one of the two questions were coded as having problems with concentration.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Michael Dewey, Karsten Hank and Hi Yeung Tsang for helpful comments on an earlier draft and are indebted to Sylvia Trnka, our language editor. Moreover, we are indebted to the editor Hans-Werner Wahl and to two anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions and remarks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wohllebengasse 12-14, 6th Floor, 1040, Vienna, Austria

    Isabella Buber

  2. Otto-Friedrich-University of Bamberg, Lichtenhaidestrasse 11, 3rd Floor, Postfach 1549, 96045, Bamberg, Germany

    Henriette Engelhardt

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  1. Isabella Buber
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Correspondence to Isabella Buber.

Appendix: 12 items contributing to the EUROD-scale

Appendix: 12 items contributing to the EUROD-scale

For further details see SHARE Codebook (Buber 2006).Footnote 9

  1. 1.

    Depression: “In the last month, have you been sad or depressed?” (a) Yes, (b) No

  2. 2.

    Pessimism: “What are your hopes for the future?” (a) Any hopes mentioned, (b) no hopes mentioned

  3. 3.

    Suicidality: “In the last month, have you felt that you would rather be dead?” (a) Any mention of suicidal feelings or wishing to be dead, (b) no such feelings

  4. 4.

    Guilt: “Do you tend to blame yourself or feel guilty about anything?” (a) Obvious excessive guilt or self-blame, (b) no such feelings, (c) mentions guilt or self-blame, but it is unclear if these constitute obvious or excessive guilt or self-blame

“So for what do you blame yourself?” (a) Example(s) given constitute obvious excessive guilt or self-blame, (b) example(s) do not constitute obvious excessive guilt or self-blame, or it remains unclear if these constitute obvious or excessive guilt or self-blame.

  1. 5.

    Sleep: “Have you had trouble sleeping recently?” (a) Trouble with sleep or recent change in pattern, (b) no trouble sleeping

  2. 6.

    Interest: “In the last month, what has been your interest in things?” (a) Less interest than usual mentioned, (b) no mention of loss of interest, (c) non-specific or uncodeable response

“So, do you keep up your interests?” (a) Yes, (b) No

  1. 7.

    Irritability: “Have you been irritable recently?” (a) Yes, (b) No

  2. 8.

    Appetite: “What has your appetite been like?” (a) Diminution in desire for food, (b) no diminution in desire for food, (c) non-specific or uncodeable response

“So, have you been eating more or less than usual?” (a) Less, (b) More, (c) Neither more nor less

  1. 9.

    Fatigue: “In the last month, have you had too little energy to do the things you wanted to do?” (a) Yes, (b) No

  2. 10.

    Concentration:Footnote 10 “How is your concentration? For example, can you concentrate on a television programme, film or radio programme?” (a) Difficulty in concentrating on entertainment, (b) no such difficulty mentioned

“Can you concentrate on something you read?” (a) Difficulty in concentrating on reading, (b) no such difficulty mentioned

  1. 11.

    Enjoyment: “What have you enjoyed doing recently?” (a) Fails to mention any enjoyable activity, (b) mentions any enjoyment from activity

  2. 12.

    Tearfulness: “In the last month, have you cried at all?” (a) Yes, (b) No

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Buber, I., Engelhardt, H. Children’s impact on the mental health of their older mothers and fathers: findings from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe . Eur J Ageing 5, 31–45 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-008-0074-8

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