Father absence and trajectories of offspring mental health across adolescence and young adulthood: findings from a UK-birth cohort

Background: High prevalence of parental separation and resulting biological father absence raises important questions regarding its impact on offspring mental health across the life course. However, few studies have examined prospective associations between biological father absence in childhood and risk of offspring depression and depressive symptoms trajectories across adolescence and young adulthood. We specifically examined whether these relationships vary by sex and the timing of exposure to father absence (early or middle childhood). Methods: This study is based on up to 8,409 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Participants provided self-reports of depression (Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised) at age 24 years and depressive symptoms (Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) between the ages of 10 and 24 years. Biological father absence in childhood was assessed through maternal questionnaires at regular intervals from birth to 10 years. We used logistic regression to examine the association between biological father absence and depression/depressive symptoms at age 24. We estimated the association between biological father absence and trajectories of depressive symptoms using multilevel growth-curve modelling. Results: Early but not middle childhood father absence was strongly associated with increased odds of offspring depression and greater depressive symptoms at age 24 years. Early childhood father absence was associated with higher trajectories of depressive symptoms during adolescence and early adulthood compared with father presence. Differences in the level of depressive symptoms between middle childhood father absent and father present groups narrowed into early adulthood. Girls whose father was absent in early childhood, compared with present, manifested higher levels of depressive symptoms throughout adolescence, but this difference narrowed by early adulthood. In contrast, boys who experienced father absence in early childhood had similar trajectories of depressive symptoms compared to the father present group but experienced a steep increase in early adulthood. Girls whose fathers were absent in middle childhood manifested higher trajectories across middle adolescence into young adulthood compared to the father present group. Conclusions: We found evidence that father absence in childhood is persistently associated with offspring depression in adolescence and early adulthood and that this relationship varies by sex and timing of father's departure. Further research is needed to examine whether this relationship is causal and to identify mechanisms that could inform preventative interventions to reduce the risk of depression in children who experience father absence.