Association between parental absence during childhood and depressive symptoms in adulthood in rural Vietnam

Background: While parental absence during childhood has been linked to depression/depressive symptoms in adulthood, no research has been conducted on this association in Vietnam, where many children were separated from their parents during and after the Vietnam War (1955-1975). We examined the association between parental absence in childhood and depressive symptoms among rural community dwellers in Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. Methods: Data came from 3000 individuals aged 40-60 years old who participated in the baseline survey of the Khanh Hoa Cardiovascular Study. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the 11-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Self-reported information on parental absence due to death, divorce, or outmigration to other locations before the age of 15 was also obtained. A Poisson regression analysis with a robust variance estimator was used to examine associations. Results: Experiencing parental absence at 3 - < 15 years old and before 3 years old was associated with a 1.21 times (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02-1.43) and 1.41 times (95% CI = 1.15-1.73) higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, respectively (p trend <0.001). When examining the associations by the different reasons for the parental absence, the strongest association was found for parental absence due to outmigration to other locations. Limitations: We had no information on who respondents lived with after they experienced parental absence. In addition, self-reported information on childhood experiences was subject to recall bias. Conclusions: In rural Vietnam, parental absence during childhood was associated with a significantly increased prevalence of depressive symptoms in middle adulthood.