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Disentangling the multigenerational transmissions of socioeconomic disadvantages and mental health problems by gender and across lineages: Findings from the Stockholm Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Public Health Sciences, Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS).ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0286-4198
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Public Health Sciences, Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS).ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7576-9410
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Public Health Sciences, Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS).ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2580-7903
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Public Health Sciences, Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8707-180x
Number of Authors: 42023 (English)In: SSM - Population Health, ISSN 2352-8273, Vol. 22, article id 101357Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

There is a paucity of research examining the patterning of socioeconomic disadvantages and mental health problems across multiple generations. The current study therefore aimed to investigate the interconnected transmissions of socioeconomic disadvantages and mental health problems from grandparents to grandchildren through the parents, as well as the extent to which these transmissions differ according to lineage (i.e., through matrilineal/patrilineal descent) and grandchild gender. Drawing on the Stockholm Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study, the sample included 21,416 unique lineages by grandchild gender centered around cohort members born in 1953 (parental generation) as well as their children (grandchild generation) and their parents (grandparental generation). Based on local and national register data, socioeconomic disadvantages were operationalized as low income, and mental health problems as psychiatric disorders. A series of path models based on structural equation modelling were applied to estimate the associations between low income and psychiatric disorders across generations and for each lineage-gender combination. We found a multigenerational transmission of low income through the patriline to grandchildren. Psychiatric disorders were transmitted through both the patriline and matriline, but only to grandsons. The patriline-grandson transmission of psychiatric disorder partially operated via low income of the fathers. Furthermore, grandparents' psychiatric disorders influenced their children's and grandchildren's income. We conclude that there is evidence of transmissions of socioeconomic disadvantages and mental health problems across three generations, although these transmissions differ by lineage and grandchild gender. Our findings further highlight that grandparents' mental health problems could cast a long shadow on their children's and grandchildren's socioeconomic outcomes, and that socioeconomic disadvantages in the intermediate generation may play an important role for the multigenerational transmission of mental health problems.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. Vol. 22, article id 101357
Keywords [en]
Multigenerational transmission, Socioeconomic conditions, Low income, Mental health, Psychiatric disorders, Longitudinal
National Category
Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-220444DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101357ISI: 001003504800001PubMedID: 36846629Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85147925974OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-220444DiVA, id: diva2:1792742
Available from: 2023-08-30 Created: 2023-08-30 Last updated: 2025-04-14Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Misfortune (dis)continues across generations: Multigenerational studies linking socioeconomic and psychosocial disadvantages to psychiatric disorders
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Misfortune (dis)continues across generations: Multigenerational studies linking socioeconomic and psychosocial disadvantages to psychiatric disorders
2025 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Mental health problems contribute substantially to the disease burden in Sweden and worldwide. Such problems are not evenly distributed in the population and are, to a large extent, socially determined. The overall aim of the current thesis is to investigate the multigenerational associations and mechanisms between socioeconomic and psychosocial disadvantages and mental health problems, as well as potential gender differences. Drawing on data from the Stockholm Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study that encompasses local and national survey- and register-based data across three generations, and through employing structural equation modeling techniques, a series of four empirical studies was conducted. Study I demonstrated multigenerational transmission of low income through the patriline (from paternal grandfathers to fathers) to grandchildren, and multigenerational transmission of psychiatric disorders through both the patriline and matriline (from maternal grandmothers to mothers) to grandsons. The patriline-grandson transmission of psychiatric disorders partially operated via low income of the fathers. Additionally, grandparents’ psychiatric disorders influenced their children’s and grandchildren’s income. Study II provided further insights into multigenerational patterns of disadvantages by showing that combinations of grandparental socioeconomic and parental psychosocial disadvantages elevated the risks of grandchild psychiatric disorders. Importantly, improved socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstances across previous generations predicted lower probabilities of psychiatric disorders among grandchildren. Study III established the mediating role of psychosocial disadvantages in the parental generation, particularly among mothers, in the association between grandparental socioeconomic disadvantages and grandchild psychiatric disorders. Study IV delved deeper into the mechanisms underlying this multigenerational mediation pattern by identifying parental childhood experiences (i.e., family relationship quality, peer relationships, and educational performance) as important determinants of parental adulthood psychosocial disadvantages and grandchild psychiatric disorders. Parental childhood peer relationships and educational performance mattered more among fathers, whereas family relationship quality played a more important role among mothers. These empirical studies extend our understanding of the multigenerational transmission patterns of disadvantages, and how multiple factors in the parental generation act as mechanisms linking grandparental socioeconomic disadvantages to grandchild mental health problems. Accordingly, public health efforts to improve mental health of future generations could benefit from a multigenerational perspective.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University, 2025. p. 72
Series
Stockholm Studies in Public Health Sciences, ISSN 2003-0061 ; 14
Keywords
Mental health problems, Psychiatric disorders, Socioeconomic disadvantages, Psychosocial disadvantages, Resilience, Vulnerability, Cumulative inequality, Multigenerational associations, Multigenerational mechanisms, Life course perspective, Longitudinal studies, Sweden
National Category
Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified
Research subject
Public Health Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:su:diva-242170 (URN)978-91-8107-250-1 (ISBN)978-91-8107-251-8 (ISBN)
Public defence
2025-06-05, Auditorium 4, House 2, Floor 2, Albanovägen 18, Stockholm, 13:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2025-05-13 Created: 2025-04-14 Last updated: 2025-05-08Bibliographically approved

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Li, BaojingBrännström Almquist, YlvaLiu, CanBerg, Lisa

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