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Living arrangements after parental separation have minimal impact on mental health at age 7 years
Author(s) -
Hjern Anders,
Bergström Malin,
Fransson Emma,
Kjaer Urhoj Stine
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.15916
Subject(s) - medicine , mental health , separation (statistics) , socioeconomic status , logistic regression , odds ratio , strengths and difficulties questionnaire , danish , nuclear family , demography , cohort , population , cohort study , odds , physical health , psychiatry , environmental health , linguistics , philosophy , pathology , machine learning , sociology , computer science , anthropology
Aim This study compared mental health after parental separation in 7‐year‐old children living in joint physical custody with sole physical custody family arrangements. Methods The study population included 39 661 children from the Danish National Birth Cohort, living in a nuclear family at age 6 months. Child mental health was measured at age 7 years with maternal reports of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) operationalised as a high total score. Associations between living arrangements and mental health were analysed using logistic regression models, taking into account early childhood indicators of family relations, parental mental health and socioeconomic conditions. Results There were no statistically significant differences between the living arrangements after parental separation with joint physical custody having an odds ratio (OR) of 1.37 (95% CI 1.10–1.70), sole physical custody without a new partner OR 1.33 (95% CI 1.19–1.47) and OR 1.55 (95% CI 1.30–1.84) for sole physical custody with new partner, with children in a nuclear family as reference. Conclusion This study indicates that living arrangements after parental separation have a minimal influence on child mental health at age 7 years.