Family ties and depression across the life course: An Overview

Nienke Moor, Aafke Komter
2012 Demographic Research  
BACKGROUND Family ties in Europe are affected by demographic trends associated with parenting and partnering, such as a decline in fertility, an increase in childlessness, postponement of parenthood and of partnership formation, the rise of "new" relationship forms and divorce rates. It is unclear how the contemporary family structure and composition are associated with people's mental wellbeing. OBJECTIVE This article examines how ties with parents, siblings, a partner and children are
more » ... ed with depressive mood of men and women in seven Eastern and Western European countries. METHODS To test our hypotheses we made use of data from the Generations and Gender Surveys. We performed logistic regression analyses to study the associations between people's family ties and depressive mood. RESULTS Our research findings show that family ties can diminish people's depressive feelings. Although we find some gender differences in these associations, we do not find support for the argument that family ties are more important for the mental wellbeing of women than of men. Moreover, our findings support the hierarchical model of family relations in which new ties with partner and children in adulthood gain precedence over the original primary ties with parents and siblings. Finally, we find that the association between family ties and depressive mood is quite similar in Eastern and Western Europe, but being married or having a partner more strongly reduces depressive feelings in Eastern than in Western Europe.
doi:10.4054/demres.2012.27.8 fatcat:ovzslu5v35epjj6blfildrzmqy