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Author: Santos, Carlos
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Later, Kennon
Trattner, Jonathan
Santos, Carlos
Garrison, S. Mason
Examining the Causal Link between Divorce and Mental Health of their Offspring Using the Cross-generational Sibling Comparison Model
Presented: Online, Behavior Genetics Association Annual Meeting, June 2020
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Children, Mental Health; Depression (see also CESD); Divorce; Kinship; School Performance

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Children of divorce have increased depression, anxiety, and perform worse in school. These consequences affect subsequent generations (Amato and Cheadle 2005), suggesting a heritable 'divorce-induced' epigenetic modification or a genetic mediation as a result of neuroticism and extraversion (Jocklin et al. 1996). Therefore, we aim to understand whether divorce actually affects an individual's wellbeing or reflects those same genetic components.

Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we examined the cross-generational impact of divorce on mental health (according to the Behavior Problems and Child Depression Report), following individuals of different ages. We compared maternal cousins using the discordant kinship model (Garrison and Rogers 2016). Controlling for genetic confounds, results suggest that divorce does not impact children's mental health by itself, however, the timing of a divorce might be a factor.

Bibliography Citation
Later, Kennon, Jonathan Trattner, Carlos Santos and S. Mason Garrison. "Examining the Causal Link between Divorce and Mental Health of their Offspring Using the Cross-generational Sibling Comparison Model." Presented: Online, Behavior Genetics Association Annual Meeting, June 2020.