Mental Health and Parent–Child Residential Distance for Older People: Cross-Sectional Study Using a Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan

Abstract

Parent–child residential distance is a focus of housing policies in Japan, which is experiencing an aging society. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between mental health and parent–child residential distance for older parents. This study design was a cross-sectional study of older parents. The data utilized were anonymized data from the 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions. A two-way ANOVA test set the outcome variable as the K6 scale and the three predictors as age, gender, and parent–child residential distance. A statistically significant difference was found in the interaction between parent–child residential distance and age group. In particular, the average mental score of older parents over 75 years old living together with their children was above the cutoff value indicating serious mental illness. Meanwhile, the mental scores of older parents whose children lived in the same city did not differ significantly between those aged 65 to 74 years old and those aged 75 years and older. This study concludes that mental health is poorer among late-old-stage parents living closer to their children. This conclusion implicated the promotion of parent and child households moving to the same city from the viewpoint of mental health.