Depression in Later Life: The Role of Adult Children’s College Education

• In Event: 1552 - Health and Well-being across the Life Course

Abstract

Research on the socioeconomic gradient in mental health links disadvantaged family background with subsequent symptoms of depression, demonstrating the “downstream” effect of parents’ status on children’s mental health. This study takes a different approach by evaluating the “upstream” influence of adult children’s status attainment on parents’ mental health. Using multilevel growth curve models and longitudinal data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (N=106,517 person-waves), we examine whether children’s college attainment influences their parents’ mental health trajectories in later life. Results reveal that parents with children who completed college have significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms than parents without college-educated children. Although this mental health disparity decreases with age, the influence of children’s education on parental mental health is increasing in significance across birth cohorts. These findings highlight the growing importance of education as an intergenerational resource, which contributes to mental health disparities among older adults in the United States.

Authors

• Jenjira Yahirun, University of Hawaii-Manoa

• Connor Sheehan, University of Southern California

• Krysia Mossakowski, University of Hawaii-Manoa