Losing a parent nearly doubles the rate of mental health problems in children: large Australian study

Children and adolescents who experienced the loss of a parent—broadly defined as death, separation, or incarceration—are significantly more likely to have diagnosable mental disorders. According to a new study published in the Australian Journal of Psychology, among children with such experiences, at least one of the mental disorders studied was diagnosed in 21.4%, compared to 10.8% among children living with both biological parents. In other words, the prevalence was approximately twice as high.

The strongest association was found following the death of a biological parent. Among children and adolescents who experienced such a loss, 28.8% had a diagnosable disorder, compared to 13.7% of those who did not experience the death of a parent. Children aged 4-11 were particularly prominent: following the death of a parent, the proportion of those with a mental disorder reached 38.3%.

The study is based on the nationally representative Australian study Young Minds Matter – the Second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. It included 6,310 families with children aged 4-17, and data were collected in 2013-2014 using a structured diagnostic interview. Therefore, the researchers assessed not just complaints of anxiety or low mood, but also the meeting of diagnostic criteria for several mental disorders over the previous 12 months.

The study remains observational. It demonstrates a strong statistical association, but does not prove that the loss or absence of a parent directly causes mental disorder. A child's condition can be simultaneously influenced by family conflict, economic difficulties, parental mental health, social support, upbringing conditions, and a host of other factors. Therefore, the most accurate interpretation of the results is that children who have experienced parental loss or family disruption represent a high-risk group that may require special attention.

Key points about the study

Indicator	Result
Participants	6,310 families
Age of children	4-17 years old
Country	Australia
Data collected	2013-2014
Any studied form of parental loss	Mental disorder in 21.4%
Children living with both biological parents	10.8%
After the death of a parent	28.8%
If the parent is in prison	21.9%
After the separation of parents	20.2%
After the death of a parent at the age of 4-11 years	38.3%
Magazine	Australian Journal of Psychology
DOI	10.1080/00049530.2026.2707204

[1]

What the researchers meant by "loss of a parent"

The term "parental loss" in this study has a broader meaning than the simple word "loss." The researchers separately considered the death of a biological parent, parental separation, and parental incarceration. They also analyzed a broader category of children who, for one reason or another, did not live with both biological parents at the same time.

These are fundamentally different life events. The death of a parent is irreversible and is accompanied by a grieving process. Divorce or separation of parents does not necessarily mean the end of the relationship with the mother or father: a child may communicate regularly with both. The imprisonment of a parent, in turn, combines physical absence with a completely different set of social, economic, and emotional circumstances. Therefore, combining these conditions is useful for assessing the overall scope of the problem, but does not mean that their psychological consequences are identical.

The authors therefore analyzed each variant separately. This revealed that the highest prevalence of mental disorders is observed not simply among all children who do not live with both biological parents, but among those who experienced the death of a parent. In this group, the rate was 28.8%, compared to 20.2% after parental separation, and 21.9% after a parent's incarceration.

This distinction is also important from a practical perspective. Following the death of a mother or father, a child may require support in coping with grief and adjusting to irreversible loss. Following a divorce, conflict between adults, a change in residence, or a change in relationship with parents may become central issues. Incarceration of a parent can further increase stigma and socioeconomic difficulties. Therefore, a single risk category should not be transformed into a one-size-fits-all approach to psychological support.

What situations were studied?

Situation	How it was viewed
Death of a biological parent	Parental loss due to death
Separation of parents	The parents stopped living together
The parent is in prison	Forced long-term absence
The child does not live with both biological parents	A broader category of family structure
All options together	Total parental loss/absence rate

[2]

By age 17, nearly four in 10 children were not living with both biological parents.

The study provided the first national estimates of several types of parental loss in Australia. By age 17, 31.8% of children had experienced parental separation. This was incomparably more common than parental death or incarceration.

By this age, approximately 2.5% of children—roughly one in forty—have experienced the death of a biological parent. While this percentage seems small, at the population level, this represents a significant number of children facing one of the most severe forms of family loss before reaching adulthood.

About 0.3% of children had a parent who was incarcerated. This category is significantly smaller, so estimates of mental disorders within it are less statistically robust than results for the much more common parental classification. Nevertheless, even in this group, the proportion of children with a diagnosable mental disorder was significantly elevated.

If we combine all the reasons why a child did not live with both biological parents simultaneously, the rate reached 37.8% by age 17. Thus, a change in the original family structure during childhood is not a rare exception, but an experience faced by a significant portion of the population. This is why the authors consider this issue not only a problem for individual families but also a public health issue.

How often did the children encounter different situations?

Event by the age of 17	Share of children
Separation of parents	31.8%
Death of a biological parent	2.5%
The parent is in prison	0.3%
Do not live with both biological parents	37.8%

[3]

Mental disorder was detected in 21.4% of children with experience of parental loss

The key figure in the study was 21.4% versus 10.8%. Among children who experienced the studied forms of parental loss or absence, approximately one in five met the diagnostic criteria for at least one of the mental disorders studied. Among children living with both biological parents, the figure was approximately one in nine to ten.

However, there were significant differences within the overall category. After parental separation, the disorder was diagnosed in 20.2% of children, compared to 11.9% in the group without such a history. If a parent had been incarcerated, the corresponding figures were 21.9% versus 13.9%.

The most pronounced difference was observed after the death of a parent: 28.8% versus 13.7%. This means that nearly three in ten children and adolescents who lost a biological parent had at least one of the mental disorders assessed in the national study.

In a broader comparison by family structure, mental disorders were found in 21.3% of children who did not live with both biological parents, compared to 10.8% of those who lived with both. It is based on this difference that the researchers and the university press service describe the risk as approximately twofold. Strictly speaking, this is a difference in prevalence, not a proven twofold causal risk.

Mental disorders depending on the type of parental loss

Situation	Mental disorder	Comparison group
Death of a parent	28.8%	13.7% without death of parent
Parent in prison	21.9%	13.9% without parental consent
Separation of parents	20.2%	11.9% without division
Does not live with both biological parents	21.3%	10.8% living with both

[4]

What exactly was considered a mental disorder?

The data come from the Young Minds Matter study, where mental health was assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV—a standardized diagnostic interview developed for large epidemiological studies of children and adolescents. It measures the presence of a specific set of symptoms, their duration, and their impact on a child's functioning.

In total, the assessment included seven diagnoses. Four were anxiety disorders: social phobia, separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Major depressive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder were also assessed.

Diagnostic status was determined based on the previous 12 months. This is important: the 21.4% figure does not mean that one in five children experienced emotional difficulties at some point in their lives following a change in their family situation. It means that this number of children met the established criteria for at least one of the disorders included in the survey during the year-long period.

By comparison, across the entire Australian Young Minds Matter sample, regardless of family structure, the prevalence of at least one of the seven disorders studied was 13.9%. The most common was attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at 7.4%, followed by anxiety disorders at 6.9%, major depressive disorder at 2.8%, and conduct disorder at 2.1%. This helps clarify the context in which the findings of this new study should be viewed.

What disorders were assessed in Young Minds Matter?

Group	Disorder
Alarming	Social phobia
Alarming	Separation anxiety disorder
Alarming	Generalized anxiety disorder
Alarming	Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Mood disorders	Major depressive disorder
Neurodevelopment	Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Behavioral	Conduct disorder

[5]

After the death of a parent, children aged 4-11 years were especially vulnerable.

The highest rate in the entire study was found among children aged 4-11 who had experienced the death of a biological parent. Mental disorder was diagnosed in 38.3% of this group. This is significantly higher than both the sample average and the overall estimate of 28.8% among all children aged 4-17 who had lost a parent.

This result is noteworthy because younger children have fewer cognitive and social resources to understand the irreversibility of death and restructure their daily lives. However, the new study itself did not experimentally investigate the mechanisms explaining the age difference. Therefore, it would be incorrect to claim that the scientists have proven a specific psychological cause for the 38.3% rate.

The death of a parent can simultaneously change many aspects of life: emotional attachment, daily routine, the family's financial situation, the remaining parent's availability, housing, school, and relationships with relatives. For a child, the psychological impact is not only on the death itself, but also on the subsequent restructuring of their familiar world. Current analysis cannot determine which of these factors are most significant.

However, this high group rate does not mean that most children who have lost a parent will inevitably develop the disorder. Even among children aged 4-11, approximately six in ten did not meet the criteria for the disorders studied, despite experiencing death. Researchers and family support specialists emphasize that many children continue to develop normally after severe loss and grow up psychologically healthy.

Why the 38.3% figure requires careful interpretation

Fact	What does it mean?
38.3% of children aged 4-11 years had the disorder studied after the death of a parent	This is a group at particularly high statistical risk.
Is that more than half?	No
Does this mean that death necessarily caused distress?	No
Is it possible to determine the mechanism from this study alone?	No
Does this group require increased attention?	Yes

[6]

Why losing a parent can be accompanied by mental difficulties

The loss or prolonged absence of a parent can affect several systems that influence a child's psychological stability. The most obvious is attachment and emotional security. A parent is often a key source of stress regulation, support, and a sense of predictability. A sudden shift in these relationships can increase emotional stress. However, the new study measured associations at the population level and did not establish a specific biological or psychological pathway for the development of disorders.

The second level is changes in the family environment. After a death or a breakup, the surviving parent often has to cope with their own stress, increased household responsibilities, and financial difficulties. In the case of divorce, interparental conflict can be an additional factor. If one parent is incarcerated, stigma or instability in relationships can occur. Therefore, the concept of "parental loss" often serves as a marker for a whole range of life changes.

The third level is related to baseline family characteristics. For example, family factors that increase the likelihood of divorce or incarceration may themselves be associated with a child's mental health. Genetic predisposition to mental disorders is also shared between parents and children. Therefore, the observed difference does not necessarily develop entirely after the event in question. This is one reason why observational designs do not allow us to equate association with causation.

Finally, children vary in their resilience and the support they receive. Having a stable remaining adult, warm relationships with family members, a good school, and accessible psychological support can significantly alter their trajectory after loss. Therefore, the modern approach is not to consider every child after loss a "future patient," but to recognize early those cases where natural adaptation begins to develop into significant and persistent functional impairments.

Possible levels of impact of parental loss

Level	Possible meaning
Emotional	Grief, anxiety, change in sense of security
Family	Changing the role of the surviving parent
Social	Moving, changing schools, changing social connections
Economic	Loss of part of the family income
Initial family factors	Can affect both loss/breakup and mental health
Individual resilience	Varies greatly between children
Support	May reduce the effects of a stressful event

The new work does not determine the relative contribution of each mechanism.[7]

Grief after the death of a parent is not a mental disorder in itself.

One of the major dangers in discussing such research is the medicalization of a normal response to loss. Sadness, crying, melancholy, temporary changes in sleep or appetite, and thoughts about the deceased after the death of a loved one do not in themselves indicate mental illness. Grieving is a natural process of adaptation to loss, and most children should not automatically receive a psychiatric diagnosis simply because they experience difficult emotions.

In the study, mental disorder was defined not by the fact of grief itself, but by diagnostic modules that assessed specific symptom sets and their compliance with criteria for specific disorders. Therefore, the figure of 28.8% after a parent's death does not mean that "28.8% of children grieved," but rather that approximately this proportion met the criteria for at least one of the seven disorders included in the national survey.

This distinction has practical implications. A child may experience extreme distress following the death of a mother or father, but their reaction may still be part of the normal grieving process. In other situations, symptoms become prolonged and severe, disrupting sleep, learning, relationships, or daily activities—in which case a professional assessment is necessary. The new study does not establish a universal time limit after which any grief should be considered a medical condition.

Therefore, the authors emphasize not mass diagnosis, but the availability of timely and appropriate support. This could include psychological methods, family support, school support, and clear referral pathways to specialists for those children who do develop clinically significant symptoms.

Normal grief and mental illness are not the same thing.

After the loss	Does this in itself mean a diagnosis?
Sadness and crying	No
Longing for the deceased	No
Temporary alarm	No
Changing habitual behavior	Not necessarily
Persistent symptoms with significant impairment of functioning	Need evaluation
Compliance with diagnostic criteria for a specific disease	May indicate a mental disorder

How the study was conducted

Young Minds Matter was a national survey of randomly selected Australian families. In 2013–2014, researchers invited families with children aged 4 to 17 years; parents or guardians of 6,310 children participated. The overall response rate was 55% of eligible households.

The primary adult caregiver was interviewed in person and provided information about the child, their mental health, and family circumstances. In the broader Young Minds Matter study, adolescents aged 11-17 also independently answered a series of questions: approximately 2,967 young people completed this questionnaire. However, the specific analysis of parental loss relied primarily on data from primary caregivers.

The standardized DISC-IV instrument, which utilizes the diagnostic criteria of the American Classification of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, was used for diagnosis. It is important to note that the data were collected over ten years ago, although the new analysis was published in 2026. This is standard practice for large national surveys: the creation of a representative base and subsequent analysis of individual research questions can occur in different years.

The authors used this database to simultaneously calculate national rates of biological parent death, parental incarceration, and parental separation for the first time in Australia, and then correlate each category with the presence of mental disorders. It is the national scale and use of a diagnostic tool that distinguishes this work from smaller studies conducted by individual clinics or bereavement support groups.

Study design

Parameter	Characteristic
Type	Observational national study
Base	Young Minds Matter
Years of data collection	2013-2014
Age	4-17 years old
Families	6310
Response rate	55%
Source of primary data	Parents/Primary Guardians
Diagnostic tool	DISC-IV
Estimated period of illness	Previous 12 months
The main advantage	Nationally representative population sample

[8]

Why the results cannot be interpreted as evidence of causality

The study was not an experiment and did not follow each child from birth to the onset of mental disorder. Family situation and mental health were assessed as part of a national survey, so it is impossible to reconstruct the temporal sequence of all factors. This is especially important for separating parents and incarcerating one of them.

For example, severe family conflict may simultaneously increase the likelihood of parental separation and contribute to anxiety or behavioral difficulties in a child even before the formal divorce. In this case, divorce will be statistically associated with the disorder, but not necessarily its sole cause. Similarly, various social problems can precede a parent's incarceration and independently impact the child.

Even in the case of a parent's death, the causal picture can be complex. The circumstances of the death—whether it was sudden or expected, whether it was related to a prolonged illness, violence, or other events—can be significant. The family's pre-death circumstances can also vary. These details cannot be reduced to a single variable: "Parent died—yes/no."

Finally, the study only covered the seven specific mental disorders identified by Young Minds Matter. It did not measure all possible psychological consequences of loss. Therefore, the results cannot be interpreted as a universal probability of mental illness or a prognosis for an individual child. They describe average differences across large population groups.

What the study shows and what it doesn't show

Conclusion	Status
Mental disorders are more common among children with parental loss.	Shown
Highest prevalence after the death of a parent	Shown
The rate is especially high in children aged 4-11 years after death	Shown
The loss of a parent directly causes distress	Not proven
All types of parental loss work the same way	No
Every child needs psychiatric treatment after loss.	No
Children at risk benefit from an accessible support system	Authors' conclusion

[9]

Why access to care is becoming a key issue

Professor Lauren Breen of the Curtin School of Population Health, the study's lead author, notes that one of the main challenges lies not only in the increased risk but also in access to care. According to the research team, families face long wait times, high costs, and confusion about who to contact after a serious family loss.

This is particularly important because the increasing prevalence of mental disorders does not necessarily mean that all children need to be referred to a psychiatrist. A more rational system would have several layers: standard family and school support for the majority, psychological counseling for those who require additional assistance, and specialized psychiatric assessment for those with signs of significant disorder. The authors specifically mention psychological interventions, family programs, and improved referral pathways.

Schools can play a significant role in this context, as teachers are often the first to notice changes in behavior, academic performance, or peer relationships. The original Young Minds Matter study already considered the education sector as a significant provider of support for children with emotional and behavioral problems. In the national survey, schools indeed constituted a significant part of the support system for children with mental health problems.

But support after the death of a parent must take into account another aspect: the family grieves as a system. The surviving parent or guardian may be experiencing a profound loss themselves and must simultaneously support the child. This is why researchers emphasize the value of family-centered support, not just individual therapy for the child.

What areas of assistance do the authors offer?

Direction	Possible task
Early detection	Noticing children with significant difficulties
Psychological help	Working with anxiety, depression and adaptation
Family support	Help for the child and the remaining adults
School support	Early detection of problems and assistance with learning
Routing	A clear path from school/doctor to specialist
Availability	Reducing waiting times and financial barriers
Grief-informed care	Taking into account the specifics of experiencing loss

[10]

How the new study differs from standard divorce statistics

The number of children living with more than two biological parents has long been available from demographic statistics. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that family circumstances were linked to standardized psychiatric assessment data in a large national sample. Therefore, the authors were able to determine not only how many children experienced a particular event but also compare mental health between groups.

Another difference is the simultaneous consideration of multiple forms of parental loss. Previously, individual studies might have focused on divorce, parental incarceration, or orphanhood. Here, all three situations were analyzed within the same national database and using the same diagnostic system, making the comparative indicators more comparable.

The results for parental death were particularly significant. Approximately one in forty Australian children has lost a biological parent by age 17, and nearly 29% of this group met criteria for one of the mental disorders studied. For children aged 4-11, the figure reached 38.3%. These figures allow us to quantify a group that may previously have remained underrepresented in service planning.

At the same time, the study does not suggest that death and divorce should be considered psychologically equivalent. Quite the contrary: the differences between the indicators indicate that the type of loss matters. The higher level of distress following a parent's death supports a more precise classification of children's family experiences, rather than simply dividing families into "intact" and "intact."

What does the new work add?

Previously known	What the study added
Many children do not grow up with both biological parents.	National Assessment of Multiple Types of Parental Loss
Loss can be a stressful event.	Comparison with diagnosed mental disorders
Divorces are common	The exact estimate is 31.8% by age 17.
Children lose their parents due to death	Rating: 2.5%
The loss is associated with psychological difficulties	The maximum prevalence of disorders is 28.8% after death
Younger ages may be vulnerable	38.3% of 4-11 year olds after the death of a parent

[11]

Key findings of the study

Result	Meaning
Sample	6,310 children aged 4-17
The proportion of families who responded	55%
Any mental disorder studied in the entire original Australian sample	13.9%
Parents separated by the age of 17	31.8%
A biological parent died	2.5%
The parent is in prison	0.3%
Do not live with both biological parents	37.8%
Mental disorder due to parental loss	21.4%
When living with both biological parents	10.8%
After the death of a parent	28.8%
Without the death of a parent	13.7%
After the separation of parents	20.2%
Without division	11.9%
If the parent is in prison	21.9%
Without parental consent	13.9%
Children 4-11 years old after the death of a parent	38.3%

The main conclusion

A new study shows that changes in a child's relationship with a parent—especially the death of a mother or father—are strongly associated with mental health. In a national Australian sample, mental disorders were approximately twice as common among children who did not live with both biological parents as among children from families with two biological parents.

The strongest signal was parental death. Among children who survived a parental death, mental disorders were diagnosed in 28.8%, and among children aged 4-11, in 38.3%. These rates do not necessarily indicate the inevitable development of the disorder, but they help identify a group for whom early psychological assessment and access to support may be particularly important.

An equally important conclusion is the opposite: the majority of children, even after the death of a parent, did not develop one of the diagnosable disorders studied. Childhood grief cannot be automatically considered a pathology. The goal of the support system is to support the normal adaptation process while simultaneously recognizing children whose anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, or other symptoms become clinically significant.

Therefore, the most useful result of this work is not the formula "parental loss causes mental illness," but rather an understanding of where the risk is highest and who should receive more attention. The authors call for improved access to psychological support, family programs, and referral systems for children after serious family losses.

News source

Breen LJ, Chih H, Nastoska S, Skinner S, Lawrence D. Parental loss: prevalence estimates and mental health impacts from the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Australian Journal of Psychology. 2026;78(1). The study is based on a nationally representative sample of 6,310 Australian families with children aged 4–17 years. DOI: 10.1080/00049530.2026.2707204.

The authors declare no potential conflict of interest in the disclosure statements. The study is observational, so the differences observed should be viewed as associations rather than definitive proof of cause and effect.