Death of Oldest Son Increases Depression in Mothers, Not Fathers

The death of a loved one can prove to be particularly demanding on our heart and soul. That person is gone forever, and despite religious believes, uncertainty lingers about whether or not you may see them again.

Yet a recent study looks at the deaths of adult sons and the affect it plays on immediate family member, particularly mothers and fathers. Findings show that mothers, but not fathers, can show a great increase of depressive symptoms following the death of their child. But what can we attribute this difference to between genders?

Researchers examined the impacts of the death of an adult child on parents ages 65 and older.

Background information from the study notes that in East Asian cultures, an adult son's role in the family is crucial to the overall family's well-being and financial stability. Therefore, when a traumatic event takes place, such as the death of a son, this can create quite a burden for the family.

Researchers from the Office of Population Research in Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School examined data from the Taiwanese Longitudinal Study of Aging, a nationally representative survey that's designed to assess the health of older people in Taiwan.

"In East Asian cultures like Taiwan, sons hold the primary responsibility for providing financial and instrumental assistance to their elderly parents," said lead author Chioun Lee, a Princeton postdoctoral research associate, via a press release. "Older women who have had particularly few educational and occupational opportunities are more likely to rely on their sons for support. Therefore, a traumatic even, like a son's death, could place quite a strain on a mothers health."

Other researchers from Georgetown University also combined data collected from the Taiwanese Longitudinal Study of Aging from 1996 to 2007 that included approximately 4,200 participants.

To evaluate their overall health and depressive symptoms, they based the study on the following questions: "Regarding your current state of health, do you feel it is excellent, good, average, not so good or poor?" These items were then coded based on a five point scale with higher scores indicating better health.

Depressive symptoms were measured on an eight-item subset from the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale that asks participants to report how often they've experienced various situations or feelings in the past week. For instance, possible answers can range from "0" meaning rarely or none to "3" which refers to most of the time.

Findings showed that women who had lost a son were 2.4 points higher for depressive symptoms that those that did not. And for men, no significant differences were noted.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal of Social Science & Medicine.