Teenage Mental Health Problems and the Co-Development of Parent and Sibling Mental Health

Jonathan Wörn, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Nicoletta Balbo , Bocconi University
Karsten Hank, University of Cologne
Øystein Kravdal, University of Oslo

This paper addresses how mental health issues spread within the family network, potentially following not only a downward transmission, from parents to children, but also the so far understudied upward transmission, from children to parents, as well as a horizontal diffusion, from one sibling to another. We draw from unique Norwegian register data covering the full population, and engage in a series of fixed effects models, adopting a difference-in- differences approach. Using these models, we compare the different development in the probability of mental health consultations for parents and siblings in families with a second born teenager with versus without a diagnosis of depression. Our study shows that an adolescent’s depression can potentially trigger mental health declines in parents and siblings right after the teenager’s diagnosis. Mothers and fathers are almost equally affected, although the effect seems to be short-termed, which suggests that seeking help may bring about mental health improvements. Conversely, potential spillover effects on siblings seem to be more long-lasting. Such co-development of mental health conditions within the family needs to be acknowledged because a failure to support family members, such as parents and siblings might allow for a more sustainable improvement in mental health for both the teenager and their family, with potentially better opportunities and prospects for the teenagers’ adult life.

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 Presented in Session 85. Health, Wellbeing and Morbidity