A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Own depression, partner's depression, and childlessness: A nationwide register-based study
Authors: Kailaheimo-Lönnqvist, Sanna; Moustgaard, Heta; Martikainen, Pekka; Myrskylä, Mikko
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Publication year: 2024
Journal:: Social Science and Medicine
Journal name in source: Social Science & Medicine
Article number: 117356
Volume: 361
ISSN: 0277-9536
eISSN: 1873-5347
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117356
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117356
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/458280617
Depression and other mental health disorders are increasing while childlessness is increasing. However, this relationship has rarely been studied. We examine how depression, as measured by antidepressant use, is related to childlessness. We add to the previous research by examining both the role of current partnership status and having a partner with depression as a mechanism. We use Finnish total population register data for cohorts born in 1977–1980. We estimate discrete time event history models for the likelihood of having a child with average marginal effects separately for men and women. Depression was measured annually with a time-varying indicator of having at least one purchase of antidepressants in the preceding year. We find a positive association between depression and childlessness; the annual probability of having a child was 2.7 percentage points lower for women with depression and 1.6 percentage points for men with depression in age-controlled models. When controlling for all background variables such as education, the likelihood of having a child was 1.9 percentage points lower for women with depression and 0.3 percentage points lower for men with depression. In total, 41% of men and 26% of women who had used antidepressant medication between ages 18–38 remained childless at age 39, compared to 30% of men and 22% of women who had not used antidepressant medication. We also find that a partner's depression increases the probability of being childless, and the likelihood of being childless is even higher if both an individual and their partner had depression.
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Funding information in the publication:
This work was supported by the Strategic Research Council (SRC), FLUX consortium, decision numbers 345130 and 345131; by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101019329); by the Strategic Research Council (SRC) within the Academy of Finland grants for LIFECON (# 345219); by the National Institute on Aging (R01AG075208); by grants to the Max Planck – University of Helsinki Center from the Max Planck Society (5714240218), Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation (210046), Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki (77204227), and Cities of Helsinki, Vantaa and Espoo; and the European Union (ERC Synergy, BIOSFER, 101071773). The views and opinions expressed in the article are, however, those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
