Correlates of symptoms of depression and anxiety among expectant and new fathers.

Abstract

Many men experience depression and anxiety during the transition to parenthood, but characteristics associated with fathers’ distress are less well understood than those for mothers. Among perinatal women, both general cognitive biases and attitudes toward parenthood are associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. The goal of this study was to assess whether these characteristics are associated with psychological distress among fathers. An Internet-based sample of expectant (n = 145) and new (n = 137) first-time fathers completed cross-sectional self-report measures of paternal attitudes, general cognitive biases, relationship quality, social support, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. General cognitive biases and relationship quality were associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety after controlling for other paternal characteristics. Although paternal attitudes were correlated with symptoms of depression and anxiety, they were not significantly associated with symptoms in overall multivariate analyses, and the relationship between paternal attitudes and anxiety differed between expectant and new fathers. These findings suggest that general cognitive biases and relationship quality are strongly associated with paternal distress. Couples-based and cognitive–behavioral interventions may be well-suited for adaptation for use in this population.

Locus of Control and Negative Cognitive Styles in Adolescence as Risk Factors for Depression Onset in Young Adulthood: Findings From a Prospective Birth Cohort Study

“…Transition to fatherhood has been under-investigated compared to the transition to motherhood (Recto and Champion, 2020 ). However, some research has identified dysfunctional cognition and external locus of control as risk factors for the development of depressive symptoms during this transition to fatherhood (Keeton et al, 2008 ; Sockol and Allred, 2018 ). Holding dysfunctional cognitions and beliefs may be especially relevant during the transition to parenthood, due to the shift in demands from one's own needs to looking after a dependent child.…”

Effects of interventions for women and their partners to reduce or prevent stress and anxiety: A systematic review

“…As such the findings of the current review are more applicable to women at high-risk of mental health issues, limiting generalizability to women at low risk. It is important to note however that general populations may include individuals with stress and anxiety symptoms that could become exacerbated as pregnancy progresses and/or in early parenthood due to the stressful transitional nature of this period [23,24]. Robust longitudinal examinations of interventions that provide skills to manage stress and anxiety across the first 1000 days are needed to better determine effects of preventive, in addition to reduction-focused, interventions.…”

“…Inclusion of partners in future stress and/or anxiety reduction interventions in the first 1000 days should also be considered. Though fathers tend to report lower stress and anxiety than mothers [20], paternal stress is associated with maternal stress [27], perceived social support [24], and child development [71]. Only two reviewed interventions included fathers, and these were delivered postpartum to fathers of preterm infants with inconsistent effects [49,50].…”

“…This may be due to the potential for intrauterine programming of child outcomes via maternal stress, and lower levels of reported stress and anxiety for men than women [20]; though adverse parental and child outcomes are associated with paternal stress [21,22]. The first 1000 days is recognised as a highly stressful transitional period for both men and women [23,24] due to changing roles, and responsibilities [8]. Though not experienced by all men and women during this period, parental stress can be associated with parental health and obstetric issues, [20], social support [25,26], perceived self-efficacy [27], sociodemographic factors [20], and stressful life events [26] including bereavement [28].…”

The physical health of men and boys: Integrating biomedical and psychological science.

“…Two studies in this issue focus on how the quality of these relationships is associated with son’s body mass index (Coleman, O’Neil, Caldwell, & Ferris, 2019) and how fathers’ eating habits may be influenced by their son’s experiences of discrimination—perhaps as a form of coping (Coleman, O’Neil, & Ferris, 2019). These articles follow the growing number of PMM articles that have been focusing on the importance of fathers’ involvement in childcare (Kuo, Volling, & Gonzalez, 2018; Lee & Lee, 2018; Trahan, 2018), the psychological challenges of fatherhood (Sockol & Allred, 2018; Zerach & Magal, 2017), the need for fathers to focus on self-care (Nash, 2018; Rominov, Giallo, Pilkington, & Whelan, 2018), and the experience of being a father among non-Western men (Barrocas, Vierira-Santos, Paixão, Roberto, & Pereira, 2017; Kasymova & Billings, 2018). Indeed, fatherhood was identified as a growing area of interest in PMM ’s publication profile, and as an area of inquiry potentially fruitful for grant-funded research (Parent et al, 2018).…”