Paternal perinatal depression: A concept analysis.
Jianfei Chen, Jing Zhao, Xiaoli Chen and 2 others
PMID 37147794WHAT IT FOUND
Fathers' perinatal depression may show as irritability, substance use, risk-taking, sleep and appetite changes, and withdrawal from parenting, not only sadness.
Existing depression screens may miss these, so ask about behaviour and family stress.
Key findings
01Paternal perinatal depression was defined as symptoms during the partner's pregnancy or 1-year postpartum lasting at least 2 weeks, with emotional, somatic, negative parenting and masked symptoms.
02Fathers may present with masked symptoms such as substance use or emotional rigidity.
03Common depression scales mostly capture emotional and somatic symptoms and rarely cover negative parenting or masked symptoms.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a concept analysis, not a trial or patient study, so it does not show that screening fathers or treating paternal depression improves outcomes. Some included studies used depression scales rather than psychiatric diagnostic interviews, which can misclassify fathers. Only English articles were included, and few were from low-income countries, so findings may not apply across languages or income settings. Definitions and time periods for paternal perinatal depression varied across studies and organisations. The included evidence was mainly cross-sectional or cohort studies, not intervention studies.
Declared interests
The work was funded by the National Social Science Foundation of China. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that screening fathers improves family outcomes. This paper analyses the concept and reviews existing studies; it does not test an intervention or report patient outcomes.