Does the timing of parental divorce or separation impact adolescent and young adult mental health differently by gender?

Mental health issues are increasing in prevalence, particularly in adolescents. Many studies have linked parental divorce and separation to poor mental health outcomes among children and adolescents, but findings are mixed about whether the timing of divorce or separation matters and whether this impact varies by gender.

We used panel data methods (pooled OLS with correlated random effects) to analyse the relationship between parental divorce occurring prior to or during adolescence on GHQ-12 mental health scores and alcohol consumption at ages 15, 17, and 25. We used data on 5155 males and 4960 females from the longitudinal Next Steps study in England.

We found a clear difference by gender in the impact of the timing of parental divorce/separation on mental health. Parental divorce/separation occurring in childhood and early adolescence was negatively associated with female mental health at age 15 but not at ages 17 and 25. We found no consistent relationship between parental divorce/separation and male mental health. When using alcohol consumption as an alternative outcome, we found the same pattern of results for females, and also found that early parental divorce (before age 15) was associated with increased alcohol consumption at age 15 in males, but reduced consumption at age 25. Results remained robust when controlling for omitted variable bias.

Our findings suggest there is scope for targeted mental health support in adolescence, by gender, to mitigate potential impacts of parental divorce and separation.