Expectant Fathers At Risk for Couvade

A critical review of the Couvade syndrome: the pregnant male

“…Munroe andMunroe (1971, 1973);Trethowan in Howells (1972); Munroe (1980); Lipkin and Lamb, (1982) all indicate a greater prevalence of the syndrome among those with lower education compared with Bogren's (1989) results. Clinton (1986) totally refutes the findings of previous studies identifying age and educational level as correlates of the syndrome. These reported differences in socio-demographic factors are difficult to explain, but factors like different sample sizes, study methodologies, ethnic variability, different times of conducting the study and stage of pregnancy during which the investigations were performed might explain some of these differences.…”

“…The investigators concluded that first-time expectant men were no more susceptible than those with children. However, Clinton (1986); Condon (1987);Ferketich and Mercer, (1989) collectively demonstrated statistically significant positive correlations between occurrence of the syndrome and the number of previous children. The stage of pregnancy might be important, as a later study by Sizaret 'et al' (1991) found that during the first trimester of pregnancy a higher proportion of primiparous men had…”

“…In Sweden, Bogren (1984) found an incidence of 20%, while in the USA, Fawcett and York (1986) reported a varied incidence of 25% to 52%. However, higher incidence rates (up to 97%) were also reported in the USA by Clinton (1985Clinton ( , 1986 and Brown (1988). The global nature of the variability of the incidence is further documented by reports from Thailand by Khanobdee 'et al ' (1993) who estimated an incidence of 61%.…”

A qualitative exploration of the Couvade syndrome in expectant fathers

“…The only exception is ethnicity where a higher incidence among black men has been consistently reported (Munroe & Munroe, 1971, Munroe 'et al. ' 1973' , Clinton, 1986. These disparate findings might be explained by problems of sample size variation, cultural and age differences across studies, socio-economic class variability and geographical distributions.…”

“…However, one country where the syndrome has sparsely been reported is Australia (Condon, 1987), which might reflect reluctance to admit such symptoms in what is perceived to be a "macho culture". Its relationship with sociodemographic factors such as age (Bogren, 1989), educational level (Lipkin & Lamb, 1982), social class (Strickland, 1987), number of previous children (Sizaret et al, 1991) planned or unplanned pregnancy (Bogren, 1983(Bogren, , 1984Clinton, 1986;Strickland, 1987) all show inconsistent findings. The only exception is ethnicity where a higher incidence among black men has been consistently reported (Munroe & Munroe, 1971, Munroe 'et al.…”