The influence of parental cancer on the mental health of children and young adults: Evidence from Norwegian register data on healthcare consultations

Øystein Kravdal, Bjørn-Atle Reme, Rannveig Hart and Jonathan Wörn
Additional contact information
Øystein Kravdal: Universitetet i Oslo
Bjørn-Atle Reme: Folkehelseinstituttet (Norwegian Institute of Public Health)
Rannveig Hart: Folkehelseinstituttet (Norwegian Institute of Public Health)
Jonathan Wörn: Folkehelseinstituttet (Norwegian Institute of Public Health)

Demographic Research, 2024, vol. 50, issue 27, 763-796

Abstract: Objective: The aim was to examine how parental cancer affects the mental health of offspring aged 6–30, and age variations in this effect. Methods: Individual fixed-effects models were estimated from register data covering the entire Norwegian population in 2010–2018. The outcome variable was whether the individual (offspring) had at least one consultation within a year with a general practitioner (GP) or specialist where a mental health diagnosis or symptom was reported. Results: The consultation probability was higher after a parental cancer diagnosis than before (e.g., 15% higher in the first year after the diagnosis). This was to a large extent driven by subsequent parental deaths, but there was also a small post-diagnosis increase among offspring whose parent survived the observation period. The consultation probability increased by 83% the year a parent died among offspring who were 19–30 at that time, after a smaller increase over a few of the preceding years. A decline occurred later. The death seemed to have a weaker, but more lasting, effect on those who were 8–18 years old at the time of the death, and these did not experience a clear pre-death increase. Conclusions: Parental cancer death seems to weaken offspring’s mental health – and no less among young adults than among children. By contrast, having a parent with cancer who remains alive at least throughout the observation period has relatively little impact. Contribution: We show associations between parental cancer and offspring’s mental health, paying special attention to whether the parent dies. This may inform discussions about supporting offspring.

Keywords: cancer; children; fixed effects; longitudinal; mental health; parents registers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol50/27/50-27.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:50:y:2024:i:27

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2024.50.27

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Demographic Research from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Editorial Office ().