Family context: Fathers and other supports.

Abstract

Although there is a wealth of information regarding the children of mothers who are depressed, there is far less information about the children of fathers who are depressed (Kaslow, Deering, & Racusin, 1994). Possible reasons for this lack of research on depressed fathers include the greater prevalence of major depression in women than in men, the possibility that fathers are more difficult than mothers to recruit into research, the greater research attention to maternal as opposed to paternal parenting processes, and theorybased research that centers on an unquestioned sexist assumption of the central role of mothers and the lack of importance of fathers to the development of their children (Phares, 1992(Phares, , 1996. Be this as it may, the knowledge base about children of depressed fathers is growing. This chapter reviews the research that has been conducted on children of depressed fathers. Other important family members such as grandparents and siblings are also discussed with a focus on the ramifications of the family context in relation to parental depression.

Fatherhood and Depression: A Review of Risks, Effects, and Clinical Application

“…This lack of structure creates a fragile family system. This is evident as families with a depressed parent are less likely to adapt to new or compounding stresses than those without (Phares et al, 2002).…”

“…Children and adolescents of depressed parents, mother or father, demonstrate more emotional and behavioral problems or suffer from major depression more often than those without (Jacob & Johnson, 2001;Shiner & Marmorstein, 1998). Children of a depressed parent exhibit lower intellectual functioning, difficult temperaments, and lower social-cognitive ability (Phares et al, 2002). Moreover, risk of psychopathology in children of depressed fathers is comparable to the risk associated with depressed mothers (Phares & Compas, 1993).…”

“…However, depression among men has emerged as a growing focus in research. Major Depression among fathers specifically has received growing attention in the research community (Jacob & Johnson, 2001;Phares, Duhig, & Watkins, 2002).…”

Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Father's Involvement, and the Trajectories of Child Problem Behaviors in a US National Sample

“…When one parent is depressed, the other parent may attempt to compensate for the impaired functioning of the depressed parent, 14,20 possibly resulting in better parenting practices Log of the (internalizing -84) or (externalizing -81) problem behavior level at age 4 years for a white female child with no father's involvement in her life, who does not live with either the biological father or the stepfather and lives in a rural area, and has a nondepressed mother whose educational level, number of children in the household, and age at childbirth are average relative to other mothers in the study sample. in the home environment.…”

Postpartum depression, father's involvement, and marital and co-parental relationships from mothers' and fathers' perspectives in a low-income Brazilian sample

“…They further suggest that a 'psychosocial family disturbance' associated with mother's PPD represents a greater risk to child development than mother's PPD alone. Phares, Duhig, and Watkins (2002) also reported that marital relationship quality is a better predictor of child's outcome than mother's depression. However, it is not clear which is the causal determinant of the association between PPD and marital conflict.…”