Postnatal depression in Mexican American fathers: Demographic, cultural, and familial predictors

Abstract

Background Although maternal postpartum depression (PPD) is a well-documented phenomenon that has been the focus of a large body of literature, much less is known about the prevalence and predictors of depressive symptoms among fathers following the birth of a child. Particularly scarce is research with Mexican American men, an understudied population at high risk given limited socioeconomic resources and elevated rates of maternal PPD. Methods The current study used descriptive and path analyses to examine the prevalence and predictors of PPD in 92 Mexican American fathers (M age = 31.3 years). Results At both 15 and 21 postpartum week assessments, 9% of fathers met criteria for PPD. Path analyses suggested that unemployment status, fewer biological children, poor marital relationship quality, and lower orientation to Anglo culture predicted higher 15 week paternal PPD symptoms, which was associated with greater paternal depressive symptoms at 21 weeks. Predictive paths from symptoms of maternal to paternal PPD were not significant. Limitations Lack of generalizability to other ethnic groups, sampling of primarily resident fathers, and the absence of historical assessments of depression are limitations of the current study. Conclusions Findings support the importance of PPD screenings among Mexican American fathers and suggest certain demographic, familial, and cultural factors may render men particularly vulnerable for maladjustment during the early infancy period.

The Problem Overlooked in Postpartum Period: Paternal Depression

“…1,27 Roubinov ve ark.nın çalışmasında, ilk kez baba olan bireylerin %9'unda paternal depresyon görüldüğü saptanmıştır. 30 Benzer şekilde Condon ve ark.nın çalışmasında, ilk kez baba olan bireylerin stres düzeylerinin yüksek olduğu ve depresyon açısından risk altında oldukları belirlenmiştir. 31…”

“…Yapılan çalışmalara bakıldığında, postpartum dönemde görülen depresyonun sadece anne değil baba için de bir risk olduğu görülmektedir. 5,12,18,[29][30][31] Bu nedenle postpartum sağlık hizmetleri planlanırken babanın da göz önüne alınması gerekmektedir. Postpartum döneme yönelik planlanan bu hizmetlerin sunumunda anahtar rol alan hemşirelerin, bu hizmetleri babalara da ulaştırması önemli bir ihtiyaç olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır.…”

Prevalence and Factors Associated With Postpartum Depression in Fathers: A Regional, Longitudinal Study in Japan

“…Correlates of postnatal depression in fathers include job quality (Giallo et al, ; Nishimura & Ohashi, ), unemployment (Roubinov, Luecken, Crnic, & Gonzales, ), lower education level (Ramchandani, Stein, et al, ), younger age (Bergström, ; Davé, Petersen, Sherr, & Nazareth, ), ethnic orientation (Roubinov et al, ), and social deprivation (Davé et al, ). Obstetric factors and child characteristics include unplanned pregnancy (Gao, Chan, & Mao, ; Koh, Chui, Tang, & Lee, ; Nishimura & Ohashi, ), the number of previous children (Ramchandani, Stein, et al, ), a female infant (Gao et al, ), and twins (Vilska et al, ).…”

Social Correlates of Paternal Postpartum Depression: A Statistical Analysis

“…There is a growing body of research on paternal postpartum depression that utilizes statistical analysis which has come to the similar conclusion that maternal postpartum depression is not a statistically significant predictor of paternal postpartum depression (Paulson et al 2016;Roubinov et al 2014;Top et al 2016) are not A more recent study that investigates the interaction of paternal and maternal postpartum depression through binary logistic regression, as I have employed, found that maternal depression does not predict paternal depression, but that for parents that both express depressive symptomology, mother's exposure to paternal postpartum depression did tend to worsen mother's depressive symptoms (Paulson et al 2016).…”

“…, in a 2014 study on postpartum depression in Mexican American fathers, researchers also found no correlation between maternal postpartum depression and paternal postpartum depression(Roubinov et al 2014). Roubinov et al's 2014 study had a sample of Mexican American fathers that were mostly lower income compared to Paulson et al's 2016 study which included mostly white middle-class individuals.…”