HOSPITAL-TREATED PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS IN ADULTS WITH A SINGLE-PARENTAND 2-PARENT FAMILY BACKGROUND - A 28-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF THE 1966 NORTHERN FINLAND BIRTH COHORT

This study investigates the relationship between the family type (two- parent and 4 different single-parent types, mainly divorced) during ch ildhood up to 14 years of age and adult hospital-treated psychiatric d isorders in a sample from the unselected, general population Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (N = 11,017). Up to the end of 1994, a total of 387 individuals (3.5%) had a hospital-treated psychiatric disorder , with 3.1% in two-parent families and 5.4% in. single-parent families (p < .001). The single-parent family was not associated with the chil d's schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. The adjusted odds rati os (OR) for personality disorders were highest among individuals witho ut a father before the age of 14 years (OR 4.8), or at birth only (OR 4.0), or with a history of parental divorce (OR 2.8). Parental divorce was also associated with alcoholism (OR 3.7) and parental death with depressive disorders (OR 3.4). In conclusion, we found an elevated ris k of hospital-treated nonpsychotic disorder among individuals from a s ingle-parent family background. It is likely that a combination of the single-parent family and psychosocial and/or genetic risk may influen ce the development of these disorders.