Sent-away children (Verschickungskinder) reported more depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and stress overload than comparison participants, and among them very negative emotional memory of the experience was the only characteristic independently associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Sent-away children reported significantly more depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and stress overload than a convenience comparison group.
In bivariate comparisons among sent-away children, younger age at separation was associated with more depressive symptoms.
In bivariate comparisons, repeated separations were associated with higher stress overload.
Very negative memories of the sent-away experience were associated with all three outcomes (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, stress overload) in bivariate comparisons.
No sex differences were observed among sent-away children in the outcomes.
When all sent-away characteristics were entered simultaneously, emotional memory was the only one associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms.
The study addresses Verschickungskinder, an overlooked case of short-term parent-child separation affecting an estimated eight to twelve million German children after World War II.
The authors conclude that the sent-away experience may have long-term mental health relevance, particularly for those with very negative memories.
This study looked at Verschickungskinder, or 'sent-away children': millions of German children who, in the decades after World War II, were sent away from their families for several weeks to stay in children's health resorts. Many later reported difficult or abusive experiences there, but little was known about their long-term mental health. The researchers ran an anonymous online survey of 334 people who had been sent away and 77 people in a comparison group, with an average age of about 61. Sent-away participants reported more depressive symptoms, more anxiety symptoms, and more stress overload than the comparison group, even after accounting for other adverse childhood experiences and background characteristics. Within the sent-away group, being younger at the time of separation, being sent away more than once, and having very negative memories were each linked to more symptoms when looked at one at a time. When all factors were considered together, only very negative memories of the experience remained linked to depression and anxiety. No differences were seen between men and women. This research suggests that even a relatively short childhood separation from parents may be connected to mental health decades later, especially for people who remember it very negatively. The study has limits: it was a survey with a convenience comparison group, so it cannot show that the stay caused the symptoms, and people with strong feelings about the experience may have been more likely to take part.
Yim I, Rivera P, von Majewski K, Rohleder N, Kofman Y. (2026). Germany's Verschickungskinder: parent-child separation and mental health.. European journal of psychotraumatology. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2026.2739683