Psychiatric disorders following the clustering of family disadvantages in previous generations

Abstract There is a lack of research investigating to what extent mental health is informed by the transmission of multiple disadvantages across previous generations. This study aims to investigate how family socioeconomic and psychosocial disadvantages (SP) cluster and accumulate over grandparental and parental generations, and how this might be associated with grandchild psychiatric disorders in Sweden. We studied three generations of Swedes, centered around 11,327 individuals born in 1953 (parental generation), their 22,654 parents (grandparental generation), and 24,900 children (grandchild generation). Using latent class analysis with the Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars (BCH) corrections, we first grouped SP into latent classes among the grandparental and parental generations at the family level, separately, and second, we examined the associations between the identified latent classes and grandchild psychiatric disorders. Third, latent transition analysis with BCH corrections was used to estimate the probability of transitioning from grandparental classes to parental classes, as well as the probability of grandchild psychiatric disorders for each unique transition pattern. Five distinct latent classes were identified for grandparental and parental generations, respectively. The highest probability of psychiatric disorders was found for grandchildren in grandparental class with medium-level SP, and in parental class with high-level SP, respectively. The grandparental classes with medium- and high-level SP were more likely to transition to the parental class with high-level SP. The transition pattern - constantly in high-level SP across grandparental and parental generations - has been found to predict particularly high probability of psychiatric disorders among grandchildren. Findings from this study suggest the transmission of high-level SP over grandparental and parental generations, and this is associated with particularly high likelihood of psychiatric disorders in grandchildren. Key messages • There is a transmission of high-level family socioeconomic and psychosocial disadvantages over grandparental and parental generations. • The intergenerational transmission of high-level family socioeconomic and psychosocial disadvantages is associated with particularly high likelihood of psychiatric disorders in grandchildren.