Enduring links: mental health effects of ex-partner’s life events among separated parents

Objective: This study examines whether life events of ex-partners with a shared child affect each other’s mental health. Background: While prior research has documented interdependencies within intact families, such as between parents and children or within couples, we extend the linked lives concept to separated parents. We argue that parents’ lives remain interdependent even after separation, unlike separations between partners without children. Accordingly, life events experienced by the ex-partner (re-partnering, separation, childbirth, cancer diagnosis, death, and parental death) could affect an individual’s mental health. Method: Using Finnish register data and panel data methods (fixed effects, fixed effects with individual slopes, and dynamic difference-in-difference models), we analyze families in which parents separated while their firstborn was a minor. Mental health is operationalized by psychotropic medication purchasing. Results: Positive life events of the ex-partner, such as re-partnering and childbirth, reduce the probability of the other ex-partner purchasing psychotropic medication. Conversely, negative life events, including the ex-partner’s cancer diagnosis and death, increase this probability, with stronger effects observed for women. More distant life events, such as the ex-partner’s separation or their parent’s death, show no consistent associations. Conclusion: These findings support the presence of enduring links among separated parents. However, the effects of life events diminish with generational distance and after new partnerships are formed. Current partners’ life events have a stronger impact than those of ex-partners throughout.