Parental separation and death during childhood as predictors of adult psychopathology: An examination of racial differences.

Parental separation and parental death during childhood are common but understudied forms of adverse childhood events (ACEs), thus little is known about the impact on psychological functioning in adulthood. We examined whether parental death and parental separation during childhood was associated with risk of diagnostic criteria for depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or personality disorders during adulthood. Second, we compared parental separation and parental death and psychopathology across African Americans (