Primal Health Databank: Study

Entry No:0178
Title:Prenatal loss of father and psychiatric disorders
Author(s):Huttunen M, Niskanen P
Reference:Arch of Gen Psychiat 1978; 35: 429-31
Place of Study:Finland
Abstract:The authors identified 167 children whose fathers had died before they were born. They also identified 168 children whose fathers had died during the children's first year of life. Then they followed all 335 of these children through 35 years of medical records. Most of the fathers had died during the second World War when cigarettes and alcohol were rationed severely, if they were obtainable at all. In both groups the parents were of comparable age and came from comparable social classes. All the children grew up fatherless. Only those who lost their father while in the womb were at increased risk of mental diseases, alcoholism, or criminality.
Keyword(s):alcoholism, bereavement, criminality, emotional state in pregnancy, fatherless children, mental diseases, war orphan
Discussion:The results of this study suggest that the emotional state of the pregnant mother as more long term effects on the child than the emotional state of the mother during the year following birth. Explore via the keyword "war orphan"
See Also:No related entries mentioned for this entry

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