The key to coping with a parent’s death may be how many siblings you have

Those with a greater number of siblings may find it easier to cope when a parent dies, a new study suggests.

Researchers in Finland observed a reduction in the purchase of medication for anxiety and depression among those with more brothers and sisters in the year preceding and following a parent’s death.

The correlation was particularly pronounced in women.

The analysis also indicated a higher likelihood of seeking medication when a person’s mother passed away than when a father died.

Experts scrutinised the buying patterns of drugs such as antidepressants, sedatives, sleeping pills, and anti-anxiety medications over a six-year period, encompassing three years before and three years after a parent’s death.

The study focused on patients aged between 35 and 55, who had between zero and three siblings.

It looked at over 1.3 million people, among whom 12.5 per cent had lost their mother.

Another group included more than one million people, of whom 23 per cent had experienced the death of their father.

A key finding was that fewer siblings correlated with an increased propensity to purchase mental health medication, especially in the year after a mother’s death.

For only children whose mothers had died, the probability of buying medication was 5.1 percentage points higher compared to only children who had not experienced such a loss in the same year.

This figure contrasts with 4.3 percentage points for those with one sibling, 3.5 percentage points for individuals with two siblings, and 2.6 percentage points for those with three siblings.

Similarly, in the year before a mother’s death, only children were 2.8 percentage points more likely to purchase drugs, compared to 2.2 per cent for those with one sibling, 2 per cent for two siblings, and 1 per cent for three siblings.

The prevalence of drug purchases was highest among women following their mother’s death.

A 6.8 percentage point difference was noted between female only children who lost their mother and those who did not. This difference was 6.1 percentage points for women with one sibling, 4.7 per cent for those with two, and 3.9 per cent for those with three siblings.

Researchers propose that these gender disparities in purchasing habits “may reflect gendered differences in treatment seeking”.

Published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, the study also revealed that drug purchases varied depending on the cause of death.

Deaths attributed to dementia were linked to a higher number of drug purchases, irrespective of sibling count. The most significant difference was observed among siblings who lost a parent to cancer, with purchases increasing in the year prior, particularly for those with fewer brothers or sisters.

Researchers emphasised the need for further studies to explore sibling interactions before and after parental death “to unravel mechanisms driving these associations and to assess other health conditions”.

They concluded by noting: “Considering the shrinking kinship networks in many ageing societies, children may face increasing strain as their parents near the end of their lives.”