Abstract
Background: Functional somatic symptoms run in families. In addition to genetic predispositions, parental model behaviors were found to contribute to the intergenerational transmission of symptom proneness. However, studies examining the long-term influences of parental health and illness factors on their offspring's somatic symptoms are scarce.
Methods: Utilizing data from a large, prospective multi-generation population cohort, we investigated cross-sectional associations of parental somatic symptoms and (chronic) medical conditions, parental healthcare utilization and medication use, and parental health literacy—assessed through a questionnaire and professional involvement in healthcare—and the somatic symptom burden of their adolescent offspring (13-17 years old), measured by the somatic complaints subscale of the Youth Self Report. Subsequently, long-term associations were examined between the same predictors and participants’ somatic symptom reports at a follow-up assessment in early adulthood. We included 3,735 mother-adolescent dyads and a sub-sample of 2,668 for which both maternal and paternal information was available, forming mother-father-adolescent triads. We used negative binomial regression analysis to examine associations between parental health and illness factors and offspring symptoms.
Results: Maternal (chronic) medical conditions and maternal pain medication use were significantly associated with adolescents’, and particularly girls’, symptom reports in both the family triads and the mother-adolescent dyads. In addition, in the dyads sample, mothers’ somatic symptoms predicted adolescents’, and particularly their daughters’, somatic symptoms. Furthermore, we found that only maternal somatic symptom reports were significantly associated with those of their young adult daughters 3-4 years later. No significant associations were found for parental healthcare utilization and health literacy. None of the associations found for fathers’ health and illness factors survived multiple comparison correction.
Conclusion: Our study investigated the impact of various parental somatic health indicators, including a balanced comparison between maternal and paternal influences, and highlights the significant role maternal health plays in the functional somatic symptom burden of their adolescent children. As these adolescents transition into adulthood, the influence of parental health and illness diminishes.