The impacts of parental loss and adverse parenting on mental health: Findings from the national comorbidity survey-replication

Angela Nickerson, Idan M. Aderka, Richard A. Bryant, Devon E. Hinton, Stefan G. Hofmann

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

There has been much controversy regarding the psychological impact of the death of a parent, partly arising from neglect of potential moderating factors. The present study uses data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) to investigate the relative impacts of age at death of parent, adverse parenting practices, and time since loss on mental health outcomes in 2,823 bereaved adults. Logistic regression analyses controlling for sex and race revealed that younger age at the time of parental death was associated with poorer mental health outcomes. Further, adverse parenting practices during childhood were related to greater psychopathology in adulthood. Results also indicated that psychological distress following the death of a parent reduces over time. Notably, each of these factors significantly predicted psychopathology when controlling for all other variables. Findings are discussed in the context of current theories of attachment and psychopathology.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)119-127
Number of pages9
JournalPsychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
Volume5
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • anxiety
  • depression
  • mental health
  • parent death
  • parenting

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology

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