Untreated perinatal paternal depression: Effects on offspring

Transition to parenthood represents an important life event which increases vulnerability to psychological disorders. Aim of this article is to analyze all studies which investigated the effects of untreated perinatal paternal depression in offspring. We searched pertinent, peer-reviewed articles published in English (January 1980 to April 2016) on MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Science.gov. Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. Most of the reviewed studies suffer from methodological limitations, including the small sample, the lack of a structured psychiatric diagnosis, and inclusion bias. Despite such limitations, paternal depression seems to be associated with an increased risk of developmental and behavioural problems and even psychiatric disorders in offspring. In particular, in infants and toddlers such problems vary from increased crying to hyperactivity and conduct problems to psychological and developmental impairment, and poor social outcomes. School-age children of depressed fathers have a doubled risk for suffering from specific psychiatric disorders. Hence, facilitating access to vigorous and evidence based treatments is a public health opportunity for improving the quality of life of depressed parents and their children. Evidences emerging from this review actually suggest that the traditional gender-focused approach to perinatal mood disorders should be completed by a family-centred approach, in order to improve the effectiveness of perinatal mental health programs.