Lifestyle factors, self‐reported health and sense of coherence among fathers/partners in relation to risk for depression and anxiety in early pregnancy

Abstract

Background Father's health is important for mothers and unborn/newborn children and knowledge about expectant fathers’ health in relation to lifestyle and psychosocial aspects is essential. Aims To determine sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, self‐reported health and sense of coherence among fathers and partners in relation to their risk for depression and anxiety in early pregnancy. Methods A cross‐sectional design, descriptive statistics, chi‐squared analysis, T‐test, binary logistic regression, multiple logistic regression with OR and 95% CI were used. Results A total of 532 prospective fathers/partners constituted the cohort (mean age 31.55, SD 5.47 years). Nearly, one in ten (9.8%) had a statistically high risk for depression; mainly those who were unemployed (p = 0.043), had financial distress (0.001), reported ‘very or fairly bad’ health (p = 0.002), had a ‘very or fairly bad’ sexual satisfaction (p = 0.006) and scored low on the SOC scale (p < 0.001). They smoked more often (p = 0.003) were hazardous users of alcohol (p = 0.001) and slept with difficulties (p = 0.001). Those with sleeping difficulties were 5.7 times more likely to have several symptoms of depression (p = 0.001). Hazardous users of alcohol and smokers had 3.1 respectively 3.0 times higher risk for depression (p = 0.001 respectively 0.003). The single strongest risk factor was a low score on the SOC‐scale which gave 10.6 (AOR 10.6; 95% CI 5.4–20.6) higher risk for depression. High‐anxiety ‘just now’ was reported by 8.9% and ‘in general’ by 7.9%, and those who had sleeping difficulties reported ‘very or fairly bad’ health (p < 0.001). Conclusions Allocating more resources and introducing more family‐focused care with depression and anxiety screening in early pregnancy for both expecting parents at antenatal care should be strongly considered by actors and policymakers, as this is a step in maintaining a family's well‐being.

Risk for partners’ depression and anxiety during pregnancy and up to one year postpartum: A longitudinal cohort study

“…Persson and Kvist 12 showed a correlation between high levels of anxiety and increased risk for depression for both mother and father. An earlier publication, from the same project as the present study, showed that about one in ten prospective fathers/ partners reported a high risk for depression and almost 9% had high anxiety in early pregnancy 13 . Sleeping difficulties and life-style factors such as smoking and the hazardous use of alcohol were reported in that study as determinants for risk for depression, as were socioeconomic factors such as being in financial distress and being unemployed 13 .…”

“…An earlier publication, from the same project as the present study, showed that about one in ten prospective fathers/ partners reported a high risk for depression and almost 9% had high anxiety in early pregnancy 13 . Sleeping difficulties and life-style factors such as smoking and the hazardous use of alcohol were reported in that study as determinants for risk for depression, as were socioeconomic factors such as being in financial distress and being unemployed 13 . It has been shown that a low Sense of Coherence (SOC), which reflects a coping capacity of individuals to deal with everyday life stressors during pregnancy, also increases the risk for depression during the perinatal period [13][14][15] .…”

“…Sleeping difficulties and life-style factors such as smoking and the hazardous use of alcohol were reported in that study as determinants for risk for depression, as were socioeconomic factors such as being in financial distress and being unemployed 13 . It has been shown that a low Sense of Coherence (SOC), which reflects a coping capacity of individuals to deal with everyday life stressors during pregnancy, also increases the risk for depression during the perinatal period [13][14][15] . Social support has been shown to be of importance for mothers' levels of postnatal depressive symptoms 14,16 .…”

Generalized Resistance Resources in the Salutogenic Model of Health

“…Furthermore, in reviewing vulnerable life phases, such as prenatal and postpartum periods, Finnbogadottir and Perrson (2019) demonstrated the association between lower levels of SOC and a higher risk of depression among expectant fathers.…”

Prenatal intervention program for Japanese first‐time fathers to adapt to the paternal role: A mixed methods study

“…A previous study showed that there is a clear correlation between fathers' depression score and attitudes about participating in parenting (Nath et al, 2015); thus, encouraging fathers to adapt to the paternal role prior to childbirth may prove to be beneficial after childbirth. Stress from gender‐based division of roles, discrepancy between the actual and expected roles related to pregnancy and childbirth, marital relationship, lack of knowledge regarding pregnancy and childbirth, poor self‐esteem, and poor awareness of parenting skills have been shown to be the risk factors of postnatal depression specific to fathers (Bruno et al, 2020; Carlberg et al, 2018; Chhabra et al, 2020; de Cock et al, 2017; Finnbogadóttir & Persson 2019). Furthermore, the association between relationship dissatisfaction and parenting burden, stress, and challenges seems to be bidirectional (Figueiredo et al, 2018).…”