Parental death during childhood and adult depression
Abstract
Parental death during childhood is widely viewed as an event so traumatic that it produces not only immediate grief and despondency but also a predisposition to react with depression when faced with loss or rejection in adult life. Empirical evidence relating to the relationship between parental death and depression is provided by more than 20 controlled studies conducted during the past 2 decades. A critical review of these studies is presented, and it is concluded that parental death during childhood has not been established as a factor of etiologic significance in adult depression or any subtype of adult depression studied to date.
Other articles
The African Orphan Crisis and International Adoption
The plight of Africa's AIDS orphans has reached crisis proportions, and the international community is beginning to mobilize…
Read moreBehavioral problems among children living in orphanage facilities of Karachi, Pakistan: comparison of children in an SOS Village with those in conventional orphanages
Purpose: This study compared the behavioral problems of children living in an SOS Village, which attempts to provide a family…
Read moreContribution of personality attributes in adolescent adjustment at orphanages, single parent families and intact families
The present study explored the contribution of personality attributes in adolescent adjustment at orphanages, single parent…
Read moreThe Impact of Parental Suicide on Child and Adolescent Offspring
Child and adolescent survivors of parental suicide experience two stressful events simultaneously: (1) the loss of a primary…
Read more