The psychological consequences of losing a parent to cancer are unclear. We investigated whether experiencing parental death to cancer before 18 years of age increases the risk of psychotropic medication. We used register data of all children born in Denmark between 1 January 1987 and 31 December 2016 (N = 1,488,846). We assessed rate ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for first redeemed prescription of antidepressants, anxiolytics and hypnotics according to parental death status using Poisson multi-state models. We further examined whether the associations differed according to the gender of the deceased parent, child’s age at the time of death or the parental length of illness. Cancer-bereaved children had a significantly increased risk of first prescription of psychotropic medication (rate ratio, RR 1.22, 95% confidence interval, CI 1.10–1.34 for males; RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.09–1.28 for females). Associations were strongest if the parent had the same sex as the child and if the parent died within one year of diagnosis. The risk was highest during the first six months after the loss (RR 2.35, 95% confidence interval, CI 1.48–3.73 for males; RR 1.81, 95% CI 1.17–2.80 for females). Children who lose a parent to cancer, particularly in cases when the disease progressed quickly, may need extra psychological support, especially during the first six months after the death.

因癌症失去父母的心理后果尚不清楚。我们调查了父母在 18 岁之前死于癌症是否会增加服用精神药物的风险。我们使用了 1987 年 1 月 1 日至 2016 年 12 月 31 日期间在丹麦出生的所有儿童的登记数据 ( N = 1,488,846）。我们使用泊松多状态模型根据父母的死亡状态评估了抗抑郁药、抗焦虑药和催眠药首次赎回处方的比率 (RR) 和 95% 置信区间 (CI)。我们进一步检查了这些关联是否因已故父母的性别、孩子死亡时的年龄或父母患病时间的长短而不同。患癌症的儿童首次开精神药物处方的风险显着增加（比率，RR 1.22，95% 置信区间，男性 CI 1.10-1.34；女性 RR 1.18，95% CI 1.09-1.28）。如果父母与孩子的性别相同并且父母在诊断后一年内死亡，则关联最强。在丢失后的前六个月内风险最高（RR 2.35，95% 置信区间，CI 1.48–3。男性73；RR 1.81，女性 95% CI 1.17–2.80）。因癌症失去父母的儿童，尤其是在疾病进展迅速的情况下，可能需要额外的心理支持，尤其是在死后的头六个月。