Sibling Death and Adolescent Mental Health: A Two-Generation Analysis

Bereavement—the loss of a loved one through death—is a significant health risk. Sibling death is an especially consequential bereavement, as evidenced by population health research on adults. Less is known about the relationship between sibling death and adolescent wellbeing, including mental health, and whether any deleterious consequences manifest because of bereaved parents’ poor mental health. We use Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study data (n = 2,963) to analyze linkages between sibling death, parents’ depression, and adolescents’ depressive symptoms. With information collected from biological mothers and adolescents, including the vital status of siblings who share the same biological mother, we focus specifically on maternal siblings and maternal depression. Regression results show that sibling death corresponds with adolescents’, specifically girls’, higher depressive symptoms, net of characteristics associated with selection into the experience. The association between sibling death and girls’ depressive symptoms persists regardless of mothers’ depression.