Maternal expectations and paternal self-efficacy as factors associated with the occurrence of depressive symptoms in parents after childbirth.

Abstract

Depressive symptoms with onset after the birth of a child can affect both parents. The aim of the presented study was to determine whether fathers and mothers differ in terms of postpartum depression symptoms and such variables as the sense of parental competence and the prenatal expectations of discrepancy, and whether these variables are related to the occurrence of postpartum depression symptoms in women and men. 271 people, including 165 women and 106 men, who became parents in the last 12 months, were examined. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Parental Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC) and Prenatal Expectations Scale (PES) was used. The results indicate differences between mothers and fathers in postpartum depressive symptoms, parental competencies, and prenatal expectations discrepancy as well. While maternal depression symptoms are determined by failure to meet prenatal expectations, depressive symptoms in new fathers are associated with a low sense of paternal competence.