Long-term psychological consequences of parental bereavement prior to midlife: volunteering helps

Meng Huoa Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, USACorrespondence[email protected]

Kyungmin Kimb Department of Child Development and Family Studies, Research Institute of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

Dahua Wangc Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaView further author information

Figures & data

Figure 1. The interaction of losing a child prior to midlife × number of living children on depressive symptoms.

***p < .001.

Figure 2. The interaction of volunteering × number of living children on bereaved parents’ life satisfaction.

**p < .01.

The current study drew on data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which are publicly available on the HRS website (https://hrsdata.isr.umich.edu/data-products/public-survey-data?_ga=2.124584909.696739851.1613501184-1622400632.1584043405). The data we used for analysis and our analytic methods are described in detail in the text, and will be made available to other researchers upon request.

This study did not involve clinical trials, and was not pre-registered.