@article {9939, title = {Depression in Later Life: The Role of Adult Children{\textquoteright}s College Education for Older Parents{\textquoteright} Mental Health in the United States.}, journal = {Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences \& Social Sciences}, year = {2020}, abstract = {
Objectives: Research on the socioeconomic gradient in mental health links disadvantaged family background with subsequent symptoms of depression, demonstrating the "downstream" effect of parental resources on children{\textquoteright}s mental health. This study takes a different approach by evaluating the "upstream" influence of adult children{\textquoteright}s educational attainment on parents{\textquoteright} depressive symptoms.
Methods: Using longitudinal data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (N=106,517 person-years), we examine whether children{\textquoteright}s college attainment influences their parents{\textquoteright} mental health in later life and whether this association increases with parental age. We also assess whether the link between children{\textquoteright}s college completion and parents{\textquoteright} depression differs by parents{\textquoteright} own education.
Results: Parents with children who completed college have significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms than parents without college-educated children, although the gap between parents narrows with age. In addition, at baseline, parents with less than a high school education were more positively affected by their children{\textquoteright}s college completion than parents who themselves had a college education, a finding which lends support to theories of resource substitution.
Discussion: Offspring education is an overlooked resource that can contribute to mental health disparities among older adults in a country with unequal access to college educations.
}, keywords = {Adult children, Depressive symptoms, Education}, issn = {1758-5368}, doi = {10.1093/geronb/gby135}, author = {Jenjira J Yahirun and Connor M Sheehan and Krysia N Mossakowski} }