High Risk of Depression, Anxiety, and Poor Quality of Life among Experienced Fathers, But Not Mothers: A Prospective Longitudinal Study

Adapting to drastic changes in the biological, psychological, and social domains during pregnancy and postpartum periods increases the risk of psychological difficulties, including depression and anxiety, in women (O'Hara  and Wisner, 2014). Transitioning to fatherhood may also cause stress in men throughout the perinatal period (Garfield et al., 2006), thus leading to depression and anxiety, with patterns similar to those observed in women (Teixeira et al., 2009; Wang and Chen, 2006). Whereas depression affects 17.2% of women during pregnancy and 13.1% during postpartum periods (Underwood et al., 2016), 10.4% of men experience depression during the perinatal period (Letourneau et al., 2012; Lung et al., 2009; Paulson and Bazemore, 2010; Ramchandani et al., 2008).
Source: Journal of Affective Disorders - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Research paper Source Type: research