Parental Timing and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adulthood

Authors

Christina D. Falci, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Jeylan Mortimer, University of Minnesota - Twin CitiesFollow
HarmoniJoie Noel, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2010

Citation

Advances in Life Course Research 15:1 (2010), pp. 1-10; doi: 10.1016/j.alcr.2010.05.001

Comments

Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Presented here is the NIH PubMed Central version of the author's manuscript, online at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3011890/

Abstract

Using data from a panel of 459 women, we find that early parents (birth) report higher levels of depressive symptoms in young adulthood (roughly age 29) compared to later parents (first birth in their 20s) or nonparents. Early parenting is also associated with more stressors and fewer resources in young adulthood. As young adults, early parents have lower educational attainment, less secure employment and a weaker sense of personal control; they also experience greater financial strain and more traumatic life events than later and nonparents. By the end of their 20s, early parents are also more likely to be single compared to late parents. The higher levels of depressive symptoms reported among early parents, compared to both later parents and nonparents, are primarily explained by their greater financial strain and lower sense of personal control.