Dads may suffer postpartum depression too

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Women are not alone in suffering postpartum depression—a “strikingly high” number of new fathers are affected as well, researchers reported Monday.

In a study of more than 5,000 U.S. couples that had recently had a baby, 14 percent of mothers and 10 percent of fathers were found to have significant levels of depression.

The percentage of affected women was in the expected range based on past research, but little has been known about fathers’ risk of depression after the birth of a child.

The 10-percent rate in the current study is substantial, according to the researchers, being more than twice the rate seen among the general U.S. population of men.

Most people, including health professionals, don’t even think of fathers as having postpartum depression, said lead study author Dr. James F. Paulson, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk.

This study may help raise public awareness of the problem, he told Reuters Health.

The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, are based on data from a national study examining early childhood development. Paulson and his colleagues used interview and survey data from 5,089 couples with a 9-month-old infant.

One of the surveys measured parents’ depression symptoms, with scores above a certain threshold being suggestive of depression.

In general, the study found, mothers who scored above this threshold reported less interaction with their babies—reading to them or playing games less often than non-depressed mothers did. Depressed moms were also less likely to breastfeed or put their babies to sleep on their backs, both important recommendations for infant health.

Depressed fathers reported less play with their infants as well. And women whose husbands were depressed read to their baby less often than other mothers did—pointing to the potential effects a spouse’s depression can have on the other parent.

Singing, reading and playing with an infant are “very important interactions” necessary for early development, Paulson pointed out. So identifying postpartum depression—in either parent—is important for parents and children alike, he said.

However, despite the growing awareness of postpartum depression among women, new mothers are not routinely screened for it, and experts believe many cases go unrecognized.

It’s even less likely that a father’s depression would be noticed, Paulson said.

He recommended that parents be aware of “clues” that they or their spouse are experiencing more than the normal fatigue and stress that comes with caring for an infant.

“Any parent is going to feel fatigued or stressed sometimes,” Paulson said. But they shouldn’t feel that way all the time, he added; parents who feel tired, down or otherwise not themselves for two weeks or more may need to speak with their doctor.

Symptoms of that duration, Paulson said, “are a key warning that it’s more than just a normal reaction to stress.”

SOURCE: Pediatrics, August 2006.

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