Fatherhood causes depression in men

Symptoms of depression increased on average by 68% over the first five years of fatherhood for men who were around 25 years old when they became fathers and lived with their children, according to the study published online today in the journal Pediatrics.

Paternal depression affects 5% to 10% of fathers, Garfield says, while about 10% to 15% of new mothers will experience maternal depression. For the new study, researchers used data collected from 10,253 adolescent males enrolled in a nationally representative study examining social and behavioral health.

Started in 1994, it followed them over nearly 20 years into adulthood. In 2004-2005, 3,425 of the participants (33%) were fathers, ages 24 to 32. The majority of fathers (80%) lived with their children. In addition to finding the increase in symptoms of depression among resident fathers in the early years of fatherhood, researchers found that young fathers who did not live with their children showed an increase in symptoms in the years before entering fatherhood but not during the first five years.

That finding was not statistically significant, perhaps because of the small sample size, but it warrants additional research, Garfield says. The new study "adds to a desperately needed research and policy agenda that deals with the mental health of fathers," says Michael Weitzman, a professor of pediatrics and global health at the New York University School of Medicine. His previous research found that two of the biggest predictors of depression in fathers was living in a household with a depressed mother and having a child with emotional or behavioral problems.

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