Paternal postpartum depression: The role of maternal postpartum depression, spousal support, and relationship satisfaction.

Abstract

Although research on paternal postpartum depression (PPD) is relatively scarce, two recent meta-analytic reviews have identified maternal PPD as the strongest predictor of paternal PPD. Despite the association between maternal and paternal PPD, no research currently exists exploring how maternal influences paternal PPD. Based on a family systems framework and the relationship enhancement model, we proposed decreased spousal support and relationship satisfaction would explain the association between maternal and paternal PPD. Using data gathered at 1 and 9 months postpartum from 92 couples making the transition to parenthood, we found maternal and paternal PPD are indirectly linked through the pathways of impaired spousal support and reduced relationship satisfaction. This study provides evidence into the importance of spousal relationship functioning to paternal mental health during the postpartum period.

Paternal postnatal depressive symptoms, infant sleeping and feeding behaviors, and rigid parental regulation: a correlational study

“…Consistent with previous research, partner social support and life events were significantly associated with depressive symptoms [5,23,40], although in regression models life events was the only significant predictor due to shared variance. The association of feeding behaviors with paternal depressive symptoms was considerably greater than that for sleeping behaviors or infant's temperament.…”

“…Studies continue to corroborate these findings [30], Recently, Don and Mickelson [5] provided empirical support for the proposition that the relationship between paternal and mater nal PND could be attributed to reductions in spousal support and relationship satisfaction. Research also indicates that partner support may decrease immediately subsequent to childbirth.…”

“…For the father, PND in the first few days postpartum predicts continuing depressive symptoms two months later [3]. Paternal and maternal PND have been consistently reported to be strongly correlated [4,5], a finding that is not surprising given that depressive symptoms reduce capacity to support others, both instrumentally and emotion ally [6,7], Paternal PND has also been found to predict poor child emotional and psychological development as well as child psychopathology and behavioral problems, independ ently of maternal depression [8][9][10][11][12], The accumulation of evidence regarding the high prevalence and substantial effects of paternal PND underlines the imperative to identify factors that might inform prevention and early intervention. The current paper examines relationships between infant behav iors, parenting belief systems and paternal PND in the early postnatal weeks.…”

The longitudinal and bidirectional association between parenting stress and couples' relationship quality

“…Couples in a supportive relationship can offer each other important emotional sustenance and coping resources that can be extremely helpful to reduce the effects of stressful situations (Lavee, ). For many intimate partners, the feeling of support, respect, and love (Cutrona, ; Don & Mickelson, ) contributes to better psychological well‐being and parental adjustment (Thoits, ; Umberson & Montez, ). Supportive relationships may be especially important for couples after the birth of a child given the stress associated with having young children (Umberson et al, ).…”

Postnatal depression in Mexican American fathers: Demographic, cultural, and familial predictors

“…Postnatal paternal mental health may be similarly compromised by marital conflict, however research has primarily focused on the relation of marital relationship quality to maternal depression during childhood and adolescence (Cummings et al, 2010). The influence of the spousal relationship on fathers’ postpartum depressive symptoms has been relatively unexplored, however preliminary evidence identifies low relationship satisfaction as a correlate of paternal PPD (Wee et al, 2011) and an important mechanism relating maternal and paternal PPD (Don & Mickelson, 2012). Importantly, research of these relations in Mexican American families remains limited (see Cabrera et al, 2009).…”