Cancer incidence and survival following bereavement

Levav, Itzhak; Kohn, Robert; Iscovich, José; Abramson, J. H.; Tsai, Wei Yann; Vigdorovich, Daniel

doi:10.2105/ajph.90.10.1601

Cited by 108 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…For instance, parents who outlive their children are more likely to have poorer self-reported health than those who do not experience the death of a child (Murphy et al, 1999). They are at higher risk of developing anxiety and depressive disorders (Kreicbergs et al, 2004), cardiovascular disease (Li et al, 2002), diabetes (Olsen et al, 2005), and certain types of cancer (Levav et al, 2000). Bereaved parents are more likely than non-bereaved parents to have suicidal thoughts (Murphy et al, 2003), to commit suicide (Chen et al, 2012), and to die earlier (Li et al, 2003; Rostila et al, 2012).…”

Section: Death Of a Child And Parental Wellbeingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death of a child and parental wellbeing in old age: Evidence from Taiwan

Lee

Glei

Weinstein

et al. 2014

Social Science & Medicine

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The death of a child is one of the most traumatic events that a parent can experience. The psychological and physical consequences of bereavement are well established, and the consequences are more severe for mothers than fathers. However, little is known about how the death of an adult child affects parental wellbeing in old age or how the deceased child’s sex may moderate the association. We use data from the Taiwanese Longitudinal Study of Aging (TLSA) to investigate how the death of a son or a daughter differentially affects the wellbeing of older parents, measured by depressive symptoms and self-rated health. We find that for mothers, a son’s death is associated with an increase in depressive symptoms and a decline in self-rated health, but fathers’ health is not adversely affected by a son’s death. There is little evidence that a daughter’s death has a negative effect on either maternal or paternal wellbeing. We situate these findings within their social and cultural contexts and discuss social policies that would reduce gender and health inequality.

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Section: Death Of a Child And Parental Wellbeingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death of a child and parental wellbeing in old age: Evidence from Taiwan

Lee

Glei

Weinstein

et al. 2014

Social Science & Medicine

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“…Intertwined with grief, the health consequences for parents are broad and often chronic. For example, past research has shown that parents are at risk of psychiatric hospitalization following the death of a child (Li et al 2005); increased risk of cancer (Levav et al 2000); elevated mortality (Li et al 2003); and prolonged grief that lasts indefinitely (Klass 1999; Rogers et al 2008). Each of these impacts may have secondary effects on surviving siblings.…”

Section: Background Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

A Sibling Death in the Family: Common and Consequential

et al. 2012

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Although a large literature analyzes the determinants of child mortality and suggests policy and medical interventions aimed at its reduction, there is little existing analysis illuminating the consequences of child mortality for other family members. In particular, there is little evidence exploring the consequences of experiencing the death of a sibling on one’s own development and transition to adulthood. This article examines the prevalence and consequences of experiencing a sibling death during one’s childhood using two U.S. data sets. We show that even in a rich developed country, these experiences are quite common, affecting between 5 % and 8 % of the children with one or more siblings in our two data sets. We then show that these experiences are associated with important reductions in years of schooling as well as a broad range of adult socioeconomic outcomes. Our findings also suggest that sisters are far more affected than brothers and that the cause of death is an important factor in sibling effects. Overall, our findings point to important previously unexamined consequences of child mortality, adding to the societal costs associated with childhood mortality as well as suggesting additional benefits from policy and medical innovations aimed at curbing both such deaths and subsequent effects on family members.

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“…On the other hand, there are several case-control studies on this topic1011121330, although case-control studies are susceptible to biases. For example, cancer patients recall more stressful events than controls31, which could lead to a spurious association between psychological stress and the risk of colorectal cancer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, a type of prospective study design has been employed in which exposure information is obtained prior to knowledge of colorectal cancer diagnosis. As such, there is a study that examined the association between bereavement and cancer incidence13. That study identified 76 and 11,602 cases of incident colorectal cancer among 6,284 Jewish parents who lost one or two sons and among 1,019,255 individuals in the Jewish general population, respectively.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many risk factors for colorectal cancer, such as age, family history of colorectal cancer, physical inactivity, body mass index (BMI), cigarette smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, and nutritional practice have been established1234. However, it remains uncertain whether psychological factors contribute to the onset of colorectal cancer, though many studies have examined the association of this cancer with various psychological factors, such as personality traits5, coping style6, depression7, and psychological stress including work stress8910111213.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Perceived Stress and Colorectal Cancer Incidence: The Japan Collaborative Cohort Study

Kikuchi¹,

Nishiyama

Sawada

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, and many risk factors for colorectal cancer have been established. However, it remains uncertain whether psychological stress contributes to the onset of colorectal cancer. Therefore, we conducted a large-scale prospective cohort study to confirm the association between perceived stress and colorectal cancer incidence. We identified 680 cases of colon cancer and 330 cases of rectal cancer during a maximum of 21-year follow-up of 61,563 Japanese men and women. Cox regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders revealed a significant association of perceived stress with rectal cancer incidence but not with colon cancer incidence. This finding is partly consistent with that from only one previous study that addressed an association between perceived stress and the risk of colorectal cancer. However, studies on this topic are sparse and warrant further exploration.

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Cancer incidence and survival following bereavement

Cited by 108 publications

References 52 publications

Death of a child and parental wellbeing in old age: Evidence from Taiwan

Death of a child and parental wellbeing in old age: Evidence from Taiwan

A Sibling Death in the Family: Common and Consequential

Perceived Stress and Colorectal Cancer Incidence: The Japan Collaborative Cohort Study

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