Fertility trajectories and later-life depression among parents in England

A study of the effect of number of children on depression among rural older women: empirical evidence from China

The association between early reproductive events and health status in later life has always been of interest across disciplines. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was an association between the number of children born in the early years of elderly women and their depression in later life based on a sample of older women aged 65 years and above with at least one child in rural China. Data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey in 2018, this study used the ordinary least square method to conduct empirical research. This study has found a significant correlation between an increase in the number of children and depression in older rural women. When considering the sex of the child, the number of daughters had a greater and more significant impact on depression. Number of children may exacerbate depression of older women through declining self-rated health and reduced social activity, while increased inter-generational support alleviated depression. The association between number of children born and depression also existed in urban older women, though not significant. Therefore, it is suggested to accelerate the improvement of supporting policies related to childbirth, developing a healthy and scientific fertility culture, and improving rural maternal and child health services. Women should be assisted in balancing their roles in the family and in society, and in particular in sharing the burden of caring for children. Targeted efforts to increase old-age protection for older people.

Fertility behaviors and mid-late-life health status in China: From a life-course perspective

Despite extensive research on the impact of fertility behaviors on mid-late-life health, conclusions remain inconsistent, and understanding is limited regarding the role of fertility-correlated life events in this causality. This study uses the 2018 wave and life-history information of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) dataset to explore how the number of children born (NCB) and age at first birth (AFB) influence later-life health. It also examines the effects of early-life educational attainment and mid-late-life caregiving on later-life health from a life-course perspective. Health measures include the Health Deficit Index (HDI), Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results from the instrumental variables (IV) approach indicate that higher NCB predicts worse health, while later AFB predicts better later-life health. These findings remain robust with different measures of fertility behaviors, and in models that control for cohort and community fixed-effects. However, introducing education variables could disrupt the causality between fertility behaviors and later-life health, but not with caregiving variables. This suggests a potential "horse race" effect between education and fertility behaviors, both of which significantly influence later-life health. Therefore, understanding this causality and formulating policy for an aging society from a life-course perspective is essential.

Does Anyone Suffer From Teenage Motherhood? Mental Health Effects of Teen Motherhood in Great Britain Are Small and Homogeneous

Teen mothers experience disadvantage across a wide range of outcomes. However, previous research is equivocal with respect to possible long-term mental health consequences of teen motherhood and has not adequately considered the possibility that effects on mental health may be heterogeneous. Drawing on data from the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study, this article applies a novel statistical machine-learning approach-Bayesian Additive Regression Trees-to estimate the effects of teen motherhood on mental health outcomes at ages 30, 34, and 42. We extend previous work by estimating not only sample-average effects but also individual-specific estimates. Our results show that sample-average mental health effects of teen motherhood are substantively small at all time points, apart from age 30 comparisons to women who first became mothers at age 25‒30. Moreover, we find that these effects are largely homogeneous for all women in the sample-indicating that there are no subgroups in the data who experience important detrimental mental health consequences. We conclude that there are likely no mental health benefits to policy and interventions that aim to prevent teen motherhood.

Number of children and disability pension due to mental and musculoskeletal disorders: A longitudinal register-based study in Norway

Earlier research has documented a relationship between parity and all-cause mortality, as well as parity and cause-specific mortality (e.g. cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality). Less is known about the relationship between parity and two very common (but less deadly) types of disorder: mental and musculoskeletal. We examine the association between parity and risk of disability pensioning from all causes and due to mental or musculoskeletal disorders, using Norwegian register data. In addition to controlling for adult socio-demographic characteristics, we control for unobserved confounding from family background by estimating sibling fixed-effects models. We find a higher risk of disability pensioning among the childless and those with one child than for parents with two children, both for all causes combined and for mental disorders. Childless men and fathers with one child also experience excess risk of being pensioned due to musculoskeletal disorders. For mental disorders, we find a positive association with high parity, particularly for men.

Number of Births and Later-Life Depression in Older Adults: Evidence from China

Previous studies on the number of births and the health of the elderly have been highly focused on physical health and used samples from developed countries. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect of the lifetime number of births on depression in Chinese older adults. We used panel data for men and women aged 50 and over from the 2013-2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Depressive symptoms were assessed through a short form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. We found that depression levels in women were significantly higher than in men, with a mean difference of 2.44 (p < 0.001). The model estimation results indicated that the number of births affected depression in older adults, and its increase could exacerbate depression in older adults. The number of births significantly impacted depression among the elderly aged 50-69. Furthermore, there was a negative relationship between the proportion of sons and older adults' depression, which was significant in older males; the number of abortions may exacerbate depression in older adults, especially in females.

The relationship between fertility history and incident dementia in the US Health and Retirement Study

OBJECTIVES

An emerging literature suggests that fertility history, which includes measures of parity and birth timing, may influence cognitive health in older ages, especially among women given their differential exposure to pregnancy and sex hormones. Yet, few studies have examined associations between measures of fertility history and incident dementia in population-based samples.

METHODS

We examined the associations between parity, younger age at first birth, and older age at last birth with incident dementia over a 16-year period in a prospective sample of 15,361 men and women aged 51-100 years at baseline drawn from the Health and Retirement Study. We used Cox regression and the Fine and Gray model to obtain cause-specific (csHRs) and subdistribution hazard ratios (sdHRs) for incident dementia from gender-stratified models in which we accounted for the semi-competing risk of death.

RESULTS

During the follow-up period (median 13.0 years), the crude incidence rate for dementia was 16.6 and 19.9 per 1,000 person-years for men and women, respectively. In crude models estimating csHRs, higher parity (vs. parity 2) and younger age at first birth were associated with increased risk of dementia for both genders. These associations did not persist after full covariate adjustment. Across all models in which we estimated sdHRs, we observed a positive relationship between older age at last birth and incident dementia for women only.

DISCUSSION

In this population-based, multi-ethnic cohort, we observed limited evidence for an association between measures of fertility history and incident dementia among men and women after adjusting for potential confounders.