Parental Deprivation and Psychiatric Morbidity amongst Older Adults

Background Parents are always the source of big support for human beings in all age groups. It was thought that the loss of parents may have impact on mental health. However, there is dearth of studies on parental deprivation and its effect on mental health of elderly, so the present study attempted to explore the area. Aim To study the association of parental deprivation in pre-adulthood (0-17 yrs) and post adulthood (18 yrs and above) with psychiatric morbidity amongst rural older adults. Methods Sample consisted of 373 subjects aged 55 years& above drawn from six villages of Malihabad block of Lucknow district. Hindi Mental Status Examination (HMSE), Survey Psychiatric Assessment Schedule (SPAS) and Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) were administered on all subjects to sieve suspects for cognitive and neuropsychiatric (functional) disorders. In depth assessment of subjects positive on HMSE, SPAS/ MDQ were done through Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), for diagnosis of neuropsychiatric other then cognitive disorders (functional) and through Cambridge Examination of Mental Disorders for the Elderly-R (CAMDEX-R) for diagnosis of cognitive disorders. In the semi-structured socio-demographic and personal history data, schedule questions were specially included to collect data on parental deprivation. Results Significantly more females had psychiatric morbidity who deprived from their both parents in post adulthood years (18 yrs. and above). Males who were deprived from both parents in pre-adulthood stage had significantly more psychiatric disorders in comparison to post adult hood years.