Association
of paternal postnatal depression with increased
risk of behavioural problems in the child
Studies
in humans and animals have demonstrated
important early maternal influences in the
development of offspring, and depression, which
is common in mothers after birth, can lead to
disturbances in children's later behaviour and
cognition. However, depression which also
affects fathers, has never been seriously
studied in this context. Therefore the effect of
paternal depression after childbirth on
children's early behavioural and emotional
development has been investigated.
Pregnant mothers were recruited and Edinburgh
postnatal depression scale (EPDS) was used to
assess the presence of depressive symptoms in
mothers (n = 13351) and fathers (n = 12884) at 8
weeks after the birth of their baby. Another
evaluation took place at 21 months for the
fathers. Disturbance of children's emotional and
behavioural development at age 3.5 years was
measured with maternal reports on the Rutter
revised preschool scales.
Available data came from 11833 mothers, 8431
fathers, and 10024 children. The EPDS scores for
1203 (10%) mothers and 303 (4%) fathers were
more than 12 and were significantly correlated.
There was a strong association between paternal
depression and increased risk of high total
problems scores on the Rutter preschool scales,
with high scores on three subscales, emotional,
conduct, and hyperactivity. These associations
remained significant after controlling for
social class, degree of education, and maternal
postnatal depression, except for emotional
symptoms. Maternal depression was also
associated with high risk of identical problems.
At 21 months post-birth, the association of
fathers' postnatal depression with conduct
problems and hyperactivity in the children
remained present. The total problems scores were
no longer linked with the paternal depression.
The association between depression in fathers
and subsequent conduct problems was stronger in
boys than in girls.
The results of this large sample study with a
3.5 year follow up show that fathers play a big
role in the early life and development of their
children. Postnatal depression in fathers, as
well as in mothers, should be considered
seriously and early interventions should be
undertaken to prevent adverse effects on their
children's development. Ramchandani
P, Stein A, Evans J, O'connor TG and the ALSPAC
study team. Paternal depression in the postnatal
period and child development: a prospective
population study. Lancet 2005,
365:2201-2205.