ArticleQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2026
Impact of child loss on parents' health-related quality of life: evidence from the china health and retirement longitudinal study.
Article in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeGiven the profound impact of adverse life events on later-life health, this study examined how the occurrence, timing, and number of child losses were associated with trajectories of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among middle-aged and older adults in China. It further explored potential mediating mechanisms and heterogeneity by gender and residence.
methodsUsing data from four waves (2011-2018) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), this study included 13,161 individuals. HRQoL was assessed using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Linear mixed models were used to estimate longitudinal HRQoL trajectories, and the Karlson-Holm-Breen method was applied to examine potential mediating pathways.
resultsBereaved parents exhibited lower HRQoL than non-bereaved parents. The association between child loss and HRQoL varied by the timing of the loss and followed a dose-response pattern. Mediation analyses identified intergenerational support and social engagement as potential pathways. Moreover, mothers experienced a steeper decline in HRQoL over time than fathers following child loss.
conclusionThese findings suggest that child loss has a persistent and graded negative association with HRQoL, with important variation by timing and gender. The results highlight the need for targeted support and interventions to mitigate long-term health consequences among bereaved older adults.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42829898What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.