The effect of early exposure to famine on depression and cognition in adulthood has been shown, but the intergenerational association of famine remain to be explored. This study focused on exploring the association of parental famine exposure with depression and cognition in the offspring.
Based on the Chinese Family Panel Studies database, which is a longitudinal survey, we included 5,150 individuals born between 1959 and 1961 and divided them into fetal-exposed, infancy-exposed (birth year = 1957–1958), school-age-exposed (birth year = 1949–1956), adolescent-exposed (birth year = 1946–1948), and unexposed groups. We used one-way analysis of variance, multiple linear regression, and one follow-up measurement to analyze the association between parental famine exposure and offspring depression and cognitive function.
Compared with the unexposed group, the correlations between parental famine exposure during fetal period and their cognitive function (mother: β = –1.614, 95% CI: –2.535, –0.693;
Not all variables related to depression and cognition function were included in the CFPS database, and the other unknown or unmeasured confounders may explain our results.