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It is not only new mothers, but also new fathers, who are at risk of depression.And those who enter fatherhood in their mid twenties are most likely to succumb, according to a new study.
Doctors are now calling for new fathers - as well as new mothers - to be screened for post-natal depression, such is the effect the illness can have on children.
It is not only new mothers, but also new fathers, who are at risk of post-natal depression
In the first five years after the birth, depression in fathers increased by 68 per cent in a survey of more than 10,000 men whose average age was 25, according to the study.
The findings, published in the journal Paediatrics, are the first to identify when young fathers are at most risk of developing the condition.
Professor Craig Garfield, a paediatrician at Northwestern University in Chicago, said the results are significant and could lead to more effective interventions and treatment.
He said: ‘It is not just new mums who need to be screened for depression, dads are at risk, too.
‘Parental depression has a detrimental effect on kids, especially during those first key years of parent and infant attachment. We need to do a better job of helping young dads transition through that time period.’
Previous research has shown depressed fathers will use more corporal punishment, and read and interact less with their children, and are more likely to be stressed and neglectful.
Compared to the children of non-depressed fathers, these are at risk of having poor language and reading development and more behaviour problems and conduct disorders.
Fathers with depression are less likely to read to their children and are more likely to be neglectful
Professor Garfield said: ‘We knew paternal depression existed and the detrimental effects it has on children, but we did not know where to focus our energy and our attention until this study.
‘This is a wake-up call for anyone who knows a young man who has recently become a new father.
‘Be aware of how he is doing during his transition into fatherhood. If he is feeling extreme anxiety or blues, or is not able to enjoy things in life as he previously did, encourage him to get help.’
The research used data collected from 10,623 young men enrolled in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health).
It includes a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the U.S. and follows them in several waves over almost twenty years into young adulthood.
All participants' symptoms of depression were scored at each wave through a survey using a subset of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.
During the most recent wave of the Add Health study, the young men were age 24 to 32, and 33 per cent had become fathers, the majority of whom lived with their children.
Young fathers who did not reside in the same home did not experience such a dramatic increase in depressive symptom scores in early fatherhood, the study found.
Instead, these were higher before fatherhood and began to fall during early fatherhood. Residential fathers' depression symptom scores were lower before fatherhood and then went up dramatically after the birth of a child.
It is estimated between four and five per cent of new fathers suffer from post-natal depression, compared with 10 per cent of women.
But despite the prevalence, experts do not fully understand why it starts.
Previous studies have suggested it may be triggered by the expense of having children, changed relationships with partners and fear of responsibility.
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