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Depression screening lacking for new fathers

Elia Psouni

Depression among new fathers may be more common than previously believed, according to recent findings.

“Telling people you feel depressed is taboo; as a new parent, you are expected to be happy. On top of that, previous research has shown that men are often reluctant to seek help for mental health issues, especially depression; therefore, it's doubtful that they would reveal their suffering to a pediatric nurse,” Elia Psouni, PhD, of Lund University, Sweden, said in a press release.

To assess depressive symptoms in fathers of children aged 0 to 18 months, researchers administered the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and Gotland Male Depression Scale (GMDS) online to 447 Swedish fathers.

Overall, 27% of fathers reported depressive symptoms above the BDI-II cut-off for depression.

Traditional and depressive equivalent symptoms were most commonly reported. A subgroup exclusively reported depressive equivalent symptoms.

A scale that combined EPDS and GMDS items showed higher sensitivity in identifying fathers with increased depressive symptoms, compared with EPDS alone.

“Among dads, depression is common even at the end of the first year, which may be due to the fact that they rarely get help, but there may be other explanations. Whatever the reason, it is important to monitor dads’ wellbeing as their part of the parental leave usually occurs towards the end of the child’s first year of life,” Psouni said in the release. – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosures: Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.