Trajectories of Paternal Postpartum Depression
Date
2020-07-30
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Abstract
Background: New fathers are nearly twice as likely to experience depression than men in the general population. The majority of studies examining risk factors for paternal postpartum depression (PPD) have used cross-sectional data, while extant longitudinal studies are often limited in the time that fathers are followed as well as the frequency of assessments. There is a dearth of research that examines risk and protective factors related to differing trajectories of depression. Analysis of trajectories is advantageous as it does not assume that all fathers will experience the same course of depression and allows for unique predictors of each trajectory to be evaluated. Method: The current study recruited 160 fathers in the third trimester. Each participant completed a larger baseline survey followed by a depressive symptom questionnaire at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postpartum. Group-based semiparametric modelling was used to identify trajectories of paternal PPD; multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate prenatal predictors of each trajectory. Results: A four trajectory solution was considered the best fitting model and most clinically informative. Higher insomnia symptoms, higher anxiety, and experiencing pregnancy complications predicted group membership in the “moderate-increasing symptoms” trajectory group, while lower insomnia symptoms, lower anxiety, and experiencing an unremarkable pregnancy were protective factors predicting group membership in the “no or minimal symptoms” group. Preliminary analysis of the “clinical-increasing symptoms” group suggested that higher anxiety and maternal anxiety significant predicted group membership when controlling for Type I error (p < .01). Discussion: The current study is the first to describe trajectories of PPD in Canadian men. These findings have the capacity to aide prenatal screening measures for men transitioning to parenthood, as well as early intervention strategies.
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Keywords
paternal, depression, postpartum, prenatal, transition to parenthood, trajectories
Citation
Cameron, E. (2020). Trajectories of Paternal Postpartum Depression (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.