Maria L. Andersen
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mlandersen.bsky.social
Maria L. Andersen
@mlandersen.bsky.social
1.7K followers 320 following 15 posts
PhD fellow at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Researching parenthood and inequalities in mental health using population-based registries. Also fan of long-distance trail running🌲|| Interests: public/labour/gender econ & social policy
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mlandersen.bsky.social
Maria L. Andersen @mlandersen.bsky.social · Nov 14
New preprint 📈📉

🧠👶🏻 We explored the link between parenthood and mental health in over 2M Norwegians using primary health care records. We found that parents generally experienced fewer mental disorders, even after accounting for factors like education and marital status.

🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2024...
Parenthood, Mental Disorders, and Symptoms Through Adulthood: A Total Population Study ML Andersen*, HF Sunde, RK Hart, FA Torvik *Corresponding author(s). E-mail(s): MariaLyster.Andersen@fhi.no; Abstract During recent decades, parenthood has declined in many Western countries. Simultaneously, mental disorders have become more prevalent. We investigated the link between parenthood and mental health in the entire Norwegian-born population aged 31 to 80 from 2006 to 2019 (n=2,234,087). We used logistic regression models on national register data and included sibling- and twin-matched analyses to address unobserved confounders. Parenthood was associated with a lower risk of mental disorders, including depressive and anxiety disorders. For symptoms related to mental disorders, fathers had a reduced risk, while mothers had a slightly elevated risk. Mental health disparities between parents and non-parents were greater among men than among women and persisted across adulthood, before reducing at older ages. Our main findings were largely consistent in sibling- and twin-matched designs. The disparity between parents and non-parents increased over the study period, suggesting stronger selection into parenthood. Our findings highlight parenthood as a significant indicator of mental health inequalities, with its importance growing over time. Keywords: Mental health, parenthood, childlessness, social inequality, fertility JEL Classification: I14, J13, J16 Two figures. Top figure (a) shows the prevalence of mental disorders and symptoms by parent-status, age, and gender. X-axis is age, and y-axis is prevalence in percent. The prevalence curves for mental disorders are higher for the childless than for parents. For symptoms, the prevalence curve is higher for childless men than fathers. For women, the two lines are much closer. The curve for childless women is higher until approximately age 40, then the two curves are similar until age 70. After 70, the prevalence curve for mothers is above the curve for childless women. Bottom figure (b) shows estimated odds ratios for a variety of logistic and conditional logistic regression models. For mental disorders, all estimated odds ratios are below 1, meaning that parents have a lower likelihood of having a mental disorder. For symptoms, the estimated odds ratios vary, sometimes above 1 (for women) and sometimes below 1 (for men). The magnitude of the estimates differ between the models of symptoms and disorders. For disorders, estimated odds ratios are in the range 0.44-0.71, while for symptoms the range is 0.80-1.19.
Reposted by Maria L. Andersen
caitlinmyers.bsky.social
Coverage of our new @nber.org working paper @upshot.nytimes.com @sangerkatz.bsky.social. Really appreciate the perspectives of the various folks they interviewed.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/u...
The Women Most Affected by Abortion Bans
After the Dobbs decision, births rose in states with bans, but more for some women than others.
www.nytimes.com
March 17, 2025 at 5:23 PM
mlandersen.bsky.social
Interested in the link between social media and mental health? Come work at NIPH (Oslo, Norway) as a PhD student! It’s a paid PhD position, you’ll have access to really good data, and a very nice work environment.
#SocSky #EpiSky #PublicHealth 🧪
January 14, 2025 at 8:45 PM
mlandersen.bsky.social
🧪 How are risk factors like parental mental illness and low education distributed across families? This cool new paper explores how couples resemble each other — both before and (even more so) after meeting. A highly recommended read for those interested in intergenerational mobility + genetics.
December 3, 2024 at 9:12 PM
mlandersen.bsky.social
New preprint 📈📉

🧠👶🏻 We explored the link between parenthood and mental health in over 2M Norwegians using primary health care records. We found that parents generally experienced fewer mental disorders, even after accounting for factors like education and marital status.

🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2024...
Parenthood, Mental Disorders, and Symptoms Through Adulthood: A Total Population Study ML Andersen*, HF Sunde, RK Hart, FA Torvik *Corresponding author(s). E-mail(s): MariaLyster.Andersen@fhi.no; Abstract During recent decades, parenthood has declined in many Western countries. Simultaneously, mental disorders have become more prevalent. We investigated the link between parenthood and mental health in the entire Norwegian-born population aged 31 to 80 from 2006 to 2019 (n=2,234,087). We used logistic regression models on national register data and included sibling- and twin-matched analyses to address unobserved confounders. Parenthood was associated with a lower risk of mental disorders, including depressive and anxiety disorders. For symptoms related to mental disorders, fathers had a reduced risk, while mothers had a slightly elevated risk. Mental health disparities between parents and non-parents were greater among men than among women and persisted across adulthood, before reducing at older ages. Our main findings were largely consistent in sibling- and twin-matched designs. The disparity between parents and non-parents increased over the study period, suggesting stronger selection into parenthood. Our findings highlight parenthood as a significant indicator of mental health inequalities, with its importance growing over time. Keywords: Mental health, parenthood, childlessness, social inequality, fertility JEL Classification: I14, J13, J16 Two figures. Top figure (a) shows the prevalence of mental disorders and symptoms by parent-status, age, and gender. X-axis is age, and y-axis is prevalence in percent. The prevalence curves for mental disorders are higher for the childless than for parents. For symptoms, the prevalence curve is higher for childless men than fathers. For women, the two lines are much closer. The curve for childless women is higher until approximately age 40, then the two curves are similar until age 70. After 70, the prevalence curve for mothers is above the curve for childless women. Bottom figure (b) shows estimated odds ratios for a variety of logistic and conditional logistic regression models. For mental disorders, all estimated odds ratios are below 1, meaning that parents have a lower likelihood of having a mental disorder. For symptoms, the estimated odds ratios vary, sometimes above 1 (for women) and sometimes below 1 (for men). The magnitude of the estimates differ between the models of symptoms and disorders. For disorders, estimated odds ratios are in the range 0.44-0.71, while for symptoms the range is 0.80-1.19.
November 14, 2024 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Maria L. Andersen
hfsunde.bsky.social
Hello all Oslo-people:

Next Wednesday (20th of Nov), my colleagues and I will be at Kulturhuset and present research findings about social differences and mental health. The event is open to all (but will be in Norwegian): www.fhi.no/om/kurs-og-k...
Sosial ulikhet, psykisk helse og genetikk
Barn av lavt utdannede foreldre gjør det dårligere på skolen, og ender ofte opp med lavere utdanning, lavere inntekt, og høyere arbeidsledighet enn andre. Hvorfor er det slik?
www.fhi.no
November 13, 2024 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Maria L. Andersen
reveconstudies.bsky.social
Recently accepted to #REStud, ``The Child Penalty Atlas" quantifies the unequal effects of parenthood on men and women’s employment in 134 countries.

From Henrik Kleven, Camille Landais & Gabriel Leite Mariante:

www.restud.com/the-child-pe...

#Fertility, #Childcare, #Children, #Youth
November 13, 2024 at 7:25 AM
Reposted by Maria L. Andersen
bardharstad.bsky.social
Some articles from @reveconstudies.bsky.social are more relevant than ever before:
"In all countries, respondents greatly overestimate the total number of immigrants, think immigrants are culturally and religiously more distant from them, and economically weaker"
academic.oup.com/restud/artic...
Immigration and Redistribution
Abstract. Does immigration change support for redistribution? We design and conduct large-scale surveys and experiments in six countries to investigate how
academic.oup.com
November 12, 2024 at 2:19 AM
Reposted by Maria L. Andersen
johnmullahy.bsky.social
Many Stata users will be familiar with the -motivate- command. Only today did I learn of the -motivatedolly- command.
November 11, 2024 at 11:54 PM
Reposted by Maria L. Andersen
torvik.bsky.social
Psykisk helse hos barn varierer sterkt etter foreldrenes inntekt og utdanning. Hvorfor er det sånn?

I fire år har vi forsket på sosial ulikhet, psykisk helse og genetikk. Kom på Kulturhuset onsdag 20. november kl. 9, så får du høre hva vi har funnet ut!

www.fhi.no/om/kurs-og-k...
Sosial ulikhet, psykisk helse og genetikk
Barn av lavt utdannede foreldre gjør det dårligere på skolen, og ender ofte opp med lavere utdanning, lavere inntekt, og høyere arbeidsledighet enn andre. Hvorfor er det slik?
www.fhi.no
November 11, 2024 at 1:33 PM