Fathers’ depression can affect babies

Doctors and healthcare workers should look for signs of postnatal depression in fathers, a new study has suggested.

Researchers from universities in Oxford, Bristol and Rochester in the United States said that postnatal depression affected “a significant number” of fathers and the new research suggested that a father’s depression could affect a child’s behaviour and emotional development.

The study said that baby boys whose fathers suffered from depression were likely to have twice as many behavioural problems in the preschool years.

The researchers analysed records on 8,430 fathers and found that, eight weeks after the birth, 3.6% appeared to be suffering from depression, with symptoms including anxiety, mood swings, irritability and feelings of hopelessness.

When the children were three-and-a-half, researchers assessed them for emotional problems, including worry and sadness, as well as behavioural problems, such as hyperactivity.

The teams found that children were twice as likely to have high levels of emotional and behavioural problems in families where the father had suffered depression after they were born.

However, fewer girls than boys appeared to be affected by their father’s depression.

Commenting on the research, Oxford psychiatrist Dr Paul Ramchandani said: “The relationship between boys’ behavioural development and depression in their father is striking. It may be that boys are specifically sensitive to the effects of parenting by fathers, perhaps because of different involvement by fathers with their sons.

“The influence of fathers in very early childhood may have been underestimated in the past, but these findings indicate that paternal depression has a specific and persisting impact on children’s early behavioural and emotional development and that fathers influence their children’s development from very early in life.

“Although largely neglected to date, paternal depression in the postnatal period should be recognised and treated by healthcare professionals in order to lessen any adverse effects on the child.”

(KMcA/SP)