Then and Now: Recent and Childhood Parental Loss and Depression in Late Adulthood

Steven Haas, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Karen Swallen, University of Wisconsin at Madison

This paper examines the effects of recent parental death (within the last year) and childhood parental death (before the respondent was age 19) on depression at age 51-61. While we examine the effects for both genders, we only find effects for women. For women, the recent experience of parental death does not increase the risk of current depression. However, the death of a parent during childhood does have a lasting effect particularly if it occurred between ages 5 and 12. This result remains after the inclusion of known risk factors for depression such as SES and marital status. The effect of early parental death manifests itself both directly and indirectly via its adverse effects on lifetime socioeconomic status. Our empirical analysis suggests that depression may in part be determined by early life events that continue to have lasting effects long after the immediate trauma subsides.