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Long-term influences of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sands, A; Thompson, EJ; Gaysina, D; (2017) Long-term influences of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders , 218 pp. 105-114. 10.1016/j.jad.2017.04.015. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: The prevalence of divorce in Western countries has increased in recent decades. However, there is no recent systematic review and/or meta-analysis of studies testing for long-term effects of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders. The present study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published since 1980 testing for the association between parental divorce and offspring depression and anxiety in adulthood. Method: PUBMED, Science Direct, Medline, PsychInfo, and PsychArticles databases were searched for eligible studies. Random-effect meta-analyses were used to synthesize effect sizes and to test whether associations of parental divorce with offspring affective disorders differ among three publication periods (i.e., before 1996, 1996-2005, 2006-2015). Results: In total, 29 studies were eligible for the systematic review, and 18 studies were included in the meta-analyses (depression: n=21,581; anxiety: n=2,472). There was significant association between parental divorce and offspring depression (OR=1.56; 95%CI [1.31, 1.86]), but not anxiety (OR=1.16; 95%CI [0.98, 1.38]). The effect of parental divorce on offspring depression was not weaker in the reports published in more recent decades. Limitations: There is limited research in relation to offspring anxiety in adulthood. Conclusions: Parental divorce is associated with an increased risk of adult offspring depression, with no indication of the effect being weaker in recent publications.

Type: Article
Title: Long-term influences of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.04.015
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.04.015
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: depression; anxiety; childhood adversity; parental separation; lifespan
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070982
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