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Paternal postnatal depression and parenting behaviours in the first year of life

Remy Constable1, Shelby Price2, Kimberley M Mallan2

  • 1School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia.

Child: Care, Health and Development
|January 24, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Paternal postnatal depression (PPD) symptoms are linked to fathers

Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Paternal postnatal depression (PPD) is associated with adverse child outcomes.
  • Parenting behaviors are a potential mechanism linking PPD to child development.
  • Understanding the impact of paternal PPD on parenting is crucial for early intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between paternal depressive symptoms and parenting behaviors.
  • To examine how paternal PPD symptomatology relates to specific parenting aspects like warmth, irritability, engagement, play, and safety.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited 213 fathers with infants aged 2-12 months via community and online advertisements.
  • Utilized questionnaires to assess paternal PPD symptoms and parenting behaviors (warmth, irritability, engagement, play, safety).

Main Results:

  • Fathers with higher PPD symptoms reported increased irritability.
  • Fathers with higher PPD symptoms reported lower warmth and fewer safe parenting behaviors.
  • No significant association was found between paternal PPD symptoms and infant enrichment or play behaviors.

Conclusions:

  • Paternal PPD symptomatology negatively impacts certain fathering behaviors.
  • Findings highlight the importance of addressing paternal mental health for child well-being.
  • Further research with larger, diverse samples is needed to confirm generalizability.
Abstract

Keywords:
fathersinfantparentingpaternal postnatal depression

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