Fertility trajectories and later-life depression among parents in England

We examine pathways between indicators of fertility tempo/quantum and depressive symptoms among parents aged 55+ with at least two children, using three waves of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Using standard regression approaches and path analysis within the structural equation framework, we also investigate whether fertility trajectories mediated the association between childhood disadvantage and later-life depression. Results provide limited support for direct influences of fertility trajectories on depression, but indicate indirect linkages for both women and men. Associations are mediated by partnership history, social support, wealth, later-life smoking, and functional limitation. Associations between childhood disadvantage and later-life depression are partially mediated by fertility stressors. Results confirm the influence of life course experiences on depression at older ages and demonstrate the interlinked role of family and other life course pathways on later-life well-being.

age at first birth, ageing, birth intervals, depression, fertility, life course, life history, parity, path analysis

10.1080/00324728.2019.1649450

0032-4728

219-240

Grundy, Emily

be7d387c-04d1-43f0-8d8d-6153d4811b25

Read, Sanna

b7e7f94f-68b4-48b7-b4e4-c1b49908bbe1

Vaisanen, Heini

ee5b9497-7825-4fd8-8b7e-3d5d2b164766

3 May 2020

Grundy, Emily

be7d387c-04d1-43f0-8d8d-6153d4811b25

Read, Sanna

b7e7f94f-68b4-48b7-b4e4-c1b49908bbe1

Vaisanen, Heini

ee5b9497-7825-4fd8-8b7e-3d5d2b164766

Grundy, Emily, Read, Sanna and Vaisanen, Heini (2020) Fertility trajectories and later-life depression among parents in England. Population Studies, 74 (2), 219-240. (doi:10.1080/00324728.2019.1649450).

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Accepted/In Press date: 10 May 2019

e-pub ahead of print date: 27 August 2019

Published date: 3 May 2020

Additional Information: Funding Information: 2 The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ ERC grant agreement number 324055 and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (National Centre for Research Methods Pathways node ES/I025561/1, ES/I025561/2, and ES/I025561/3). The data were made available through the UK Data Service. ELSA was developed by a team of researchers based at NatCen Social Research, University College London, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The data were collected by NatCen Social Research. The funding for ELSA is provided by the US National Institute on Aging and a consortium of UK government departments coordinated by the Office for National Statistics. The developers and funders of ELSA and the UK Data Service bear no responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here. Publisher Copyright: © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords: age at first birth, ageing, birth intervals, depression, fertility, life course, life history, parity, path analysis