Fertility among Norwegian Women and Men with Mental Disorders

Øystein Kravdal , University of Oslo
Martin Flatø, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Fartein Torvik, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Discrete-time models for first-, second-, and third-birth rates in 2010-2018 were estimated, using data from the Population Register and databases on primary and specialized health care consultations. These data sources cover the entire Norwegian population. Birth rates were relatively low among individuals who had at least one consultation for depression in primary or specialized health care in the calendar year before the preceding. According to a simulation, the reduction in births rates corresponds to a reduction in completed fertility from 1.60 among women without any of the mental disorders under study, to 1.34 among the depressed. The corresponding numbers for men were 1.41 and 0.90. The associations between anxiety and fertility were of similar magnitude, while fertility was lower among individuals with bipolar disorder, eating disorder or personality disorder. Completed fertility was lowest among women and men with schizophrenia (0.36 and 0.16, respectively). However, to the extent that individuals with these mental disorders enter parenthood, many of the estimates suggested that they do so at a relatively low age. The associations between mental disorders and fertility became weaker when partnership, education and income were controlled for, and when characteristics shared by siblings were taken into account in family fixed-effects models.

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 Presented in Session 24. Fertility and Health