Early-life interparental relationship quality and late-life depressive symptoms: A mediation analysis

A growing body of literature has demonstrated that poor relationships between parents are associated with offspring's elevated depressive symptoms among children and adolescents. However, researchers have paid scant attention to whether marital discord during offspring's childhood casts a long shadow on their late-life depressive symptoms. This study examines the association between early exposure to a poor interparental relationship and offspring's late-life depressive symptoms among Chinese and identifies underlying mechanisms.

We employed path models to analyze data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The analytic sample consisted of 4107 respondents aged 60 and older in 2015. Depressive symptoms were assessed with a 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).

Individuals who had experienced poor interparental relationships in childhood showed higher levels of and faster increases in depressive symptoms in late adulthood. The mediators were offspring's experiences of physical abuse by their parents in childhood and their poor relationships with spouses and children in adulthood.

Limitations include recall bias on childhood conditions, absence of personality traits, and limited measures of parenting practices.

Early-life interparental relationships exert a long-term effect on offspring's mental health. Individuals who suffered from poor interparental relationships during childhood might be at relatively high risk of developing depressive symptoms in late adulthood. Possible measures to relieve these depressive symptoms include protecting offspring from physical abuse in childhood and improving their relationships with their spouses and children later in life.