Turns Out New Dads Can Get Post-Natal Depression Too

(image via flickr)

Research, out of New Zealand's University of Auckland, has found that around one in 25 new fathers experienced depression symptoms after the birth of their baby.

The study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry investigated depression symptoms in more than 3,500 New Zealand men during the third trimester of their partner's pregnancy, and checked in again nine months after the child's birth.

It found fathers were at risk if they felt stressed or were in poor health. Around one in 25 men reported symptoms of postnatal depression, while antenatal depression affected about one in 50.

Those symptoms are still much more common in women, with one in six of the mothers reporting significant depressive symptoms at either the antenatal interview or when their children were nine months old. One in eight experienced antenatal depression symptoms, and one in 12 experiencing symptoms post.

The paper concludes that, "The effect of parental depression on families and children can be lowered if symptoms in both men and women are identified early, treated, or prevented."

Dr Lisa Underwood, the study's author, says while women's pre and post-birth depression is well recognised, little has been done to identify equivalent conditions in men.

"As in many other countries, New Zealand women are assessed for postnatal depression following childbirth," Underwood says. "There is…none for fathers before or after the birth of their children."

"Increasingly, we are becoming aware of the influence that fathers have on their children's psychosocial and cognitive development. Given the potential for paternal depression to have direct and indirect effects on children, it is important that we recognise and treat symptoms among fathers early."

She said the study found self-reported poor health and stress during the pregnancy were consistently linked to paternal depression. Other risk factors included a history of depression, unemployment, relationship status and family environments during the postnatal period. Of these, the strongest predictor of paternal depression was no longer being in a relationship with the child's mother.

The study draws its data from longitudinal study Growing Up in New Zealand, which is tracking the development of more than 6000 local children.

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