Bereavement & mental health: The generational consequences of a grandparent's death

The COVID-19 pandemic has left millions of children and adolescents grieving the sudden death of a grandparent. Yet, we lack knowledge of the mental health implications of a grandparent's death for youth. This study uses longitudinal data to examine if the loss of a grandparent increases adolescent grandchildren's likelihood of experiencing their mothers' major depressive disorder, and of having depressive symptoms themselves. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a population-based cohort study of children born in 20 U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000, we estimate associations between the death of a maternal grandparent in mid-childhood and adolescents', and their mothers', depressive outcomes when the adolescent is roughly age 15 (in 2014-17), net of a robust set of covariates, including pre-bereavement depression. Adjusted regression models show no elevated depression risk associated with a grandfather's death-neither for adolescents nor their mothers. A grandmother's death within the previous seven years is associated with a higher likelihood of adolescents having a depressed mother compared to both non-bereaved adolescents (odds ratio (OR) = 2.42;95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.17, 5.01) and those whose grandmother died more than seven years ago (OR = 3.78;95% CI = 1.54, 9.31). Furthermore, adolescent boys have a 50% increase in their depressive symptoms following a grandmother's death relative to their non-bereaved peers-an increase that operates independently from the influence of the death on their mother. Together, the results show the death of a grandmother is an underappreciated, persistent risk factor for adolescents experiencing maternal major depressive disorder, and for adolescent boys experiencing depressive symptoms personally.Copyright © 2022 The Authors

COVID-19 WIDOWHOOD OR PANDEMIC WIDOWHOOD: EXAMINING THE DIFFERENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Millions of COVID-19 widows worldwide face elevated mental health risks that foreshadow worsening physical health and elevated mortality. It remains unknown whether the excess mental health problems for COVID-19 widows are a result of the "bad death” experiences from COVID-19 (e.g., unexpected death and high levels of medical intervention) or pandemic-induced social changes (e.g., social isolation and limited funerals). This study examines whether older adults whose spouses died of COVID-19 disease have worse mental health (self-reported depression, loneliness, and trouble sleeping) than those whose spouses died from causes other than COVID-19 before and during the pandemic. We used Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe data collected before (Wave 8, fielded October 2019 to March 2020) and during the pandemic (COVID-19 Supplement-2, fielded June to August 2021) to compare three groups whose spouses died (a) before the pandemic, (b) from COVID-19 during the pandemic, and (c) from non-COVID-19 causes during the pandemic. We find those spouses died from COVID-19 have higher risks of self-reported depression, loneliness, and trouble sleeping than those losing a spouse before the pandemic. However, losing a spouse due to non-COVID-19 causes during the pandemic is not significantly associated with worse mental health compared to pre-pandemic scenarios. During the pandemic, older adults whose spouses died from COVID-19 report higher risks of loneliness than those spouses died from non-COVID-19 causes. This study suggests losing a spouse due to COVID-19 presents unique mental health risks for older adults, clarifying prior theories about mental health impacts of pandemic bereavement.