Mortality of young adults in relation to single-parent family background. A prospective study of the northern Finland 1966 birth cohort.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between family background and mortality of offspring was studied by using a prospectively collected, general population, birth cohort database (n = 11,017), that is the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort which is linked with the national death register. METHODS: A logistic regression analysis was performed in order to examine the association between family background and death of offspring (between ages 16 and 28 years). RESULTS: It was revealed that 117 subjects (90 males and 27 females) from the original birth cohort had died. The majority of the deaths were due to unnatural causes in both sexes (79%). After adjusting for confounders (psychiatric diagnosis and parental social class), the results indicated that the general mortality risk for males with a single-parent family background was significantly increased compared with males from a two-parent family background (odds ratio 1.8 and 95% confidence interval: 1.1-2.9). The risk of committing suicide was significantly increased among young adult males with a single-parent family background (OR 2.5 and 95% CI: 1.1-5.8). CONCLUSION: Our finding calls for health care professionals to provide more preventative mental health support for children and adolescents living in broken homes.

Retirement, aging, psychosocial adaptation and mental health. Findings of the TURVA project.

This article deals with certain preliminary findings obtained in a long-term prospective study begun in 1982 using the interview method; the first follow-up was carried out in 1986, the method consisting of a postal inquiry and the collection of recorded data. The sample consists of 200 randomly selected inhabitants of Turku born in 1920 and 189 individuals of the same age living in rural municipalities in the vicinity of Turku. During the 4-year follow-up period the subjects' biopsychosocial situation remained almost unchanged, showing that, for most people, retirement is not a stressor of crucial importance or a life crisis. Of the variables relating to the initial survey, poor subjective physical health, self-assessed work disability, poor financial situation, change into a taciturn and timid individual in adolescence, the spouse's poor mental equilibrium, an excess of leisure time and general dissatisfaction with life were associated with subsequent mental disturbance as measured by use of the General Health Questionnaire.