"What Can I Do to Not Have This Life"? A Qualitative Study of Paternal Postnatal Depression Experiences among Fathers in the United Kingdom

Understandings of paternal postnatal depression (PND) in fathers from the United Kingdom (UK) have received limited attention, particularly in view of changing dynamics of contemporary parenthood. To rectify this, eight UK fathers with PND took part in one-to-one interviews, with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis used to understand their lived experiences. Our findings demonstrate that UK fathers with PND experienced extremely distressing emotions, including anger and misery, after their babies are born. Their working practices were highly relevant to their fatherhood, with working considered a key responsibility and a source of stress, but also a "legitimate" escape from the home. Fathers' relationships with their partners were experienced as less intimate and conflicted. Fathers often hid their feelings to protect their partners, but also reported their partners as being aware of their challenging and difficult emotions. Healthcare providers should be professionally curious about fathers' mental health and consider the assistance of mothers in identifying cases of paternal PND.

Getting help as a depressed dad: A lived experience narrative of paternal postnatal depression, with considerations for healthcare practice

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE SUBJECT?: A significant proportion of fathers report experiencing depression after their baby is born Fathers are not offered regular support for their psychological well-being in the transition to parenthood despite an acknowledged need for such support WHAT DOES THE PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Lived experience provides new insight into how one father experienced postnatal depression, including the role of his partner in help-seeking It explains the delayed presentation in help-seeking as resulting from healthcare practitioner language and attitudes, and gendered expectations around mental health and help-seeking in the context of fatherhood WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR MENTAL HEALTH NURSING?: Mental health nurses should be aware that postnatal depression can affect fathers as well as mothers, and that it is necessary to support fathers in safe spaces and with appropriate language Planning care for depression in men should consider the recent birth of a child in order to provide effective care Clearer guidance is needed for supporting new fathers with postnatal depression ABSTRACT: Introduction Fathers are not universally supported with their perinatal mental health, but evidence shows that they suffer at a similar level to mothers. Aim This paper examines the journey of one father through his PND experience, his help seeking, and encounters in healthcare, in order to highlight the needs of a depressed father. Method The method is a father's lived experience narrative which has been written alongside a health visitor who highlights the relevance of the condition to healthcare practice. Results & Discussion The needs of fathers are unmet. They require support which considers their gender role expectations. Partners are key to their help seeking. Implications for practice The language and sensitivity used by nurses is key to encouraging fathers to share their depression and reduce stigma around the condition.

Scalability of a singing-based intervention for postpartum depression in Denmark and Romania: protocol for a single-arm feasibility study

INTRODUCTION

Postpartum depression (PPD) affects around one in seven women globally, with these women in need of non-pharmaceutical treatment strategies. There is a long history of the benefits of singing for maternal mental health, and promising research exists showing the clinical effectiveness of group singing. Group singing interventions are being scaled up to support new mothers in the United Kingdom, but we do not know if such an intervention may benefit women in different cultural contexts. This protocol focuses on exploring the feasibility of implementation and perceived impact of a 10-week group singing intervention for new mothers in Romania and Denmark eliciting signs of PPD.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

Data will be collected from up to 48 women with a score ≥10 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) participating in a 10-week group singing intervention in Denmark or Romania, as well as a range of project stakeholders. The singing classes will take place in person and be facilitated by professional singing leaders. Feasibility of implementation will be analysed through qualitative data (eg, focus groups, interviews) and quantitative data (eg, the Feasibility of Intervention Measure). Perceived impact will be explored via surveys that include mental health measures (EPDS, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, WHO Five Well-Being Index) from singing intervention participants (at weeks 1, 6, 10) and focus groups. Descriptive statistics, repeated measures analysis of variance and analysis of covariance will be used to analyse quantitative data. Framework method and thematic analysis will be used to analyse qualitative data.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The national ethics committees in Romania (IRB-PH Protocol #2021-211217-012) and Denmark (case number 1-10-72-274-21) have approved the study, as has the Ethics Review Committee at the World Health Organization (ERC.0003714). All participants will be required to provide informed consent. Results will be disseminated by reports published by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, peer-reviewed publications and at conferences.

Gender Difference in Psychological, Cognitive, and Behavioral Patterns Among University Students During COVID-19: A Machine Learning Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic affects all population segments and is especially detrimental to university students because social interaction is critical for a rewarding campus life and valuable learning experiences. In particular, with the suspension of in-person activities and the adoption of virtual teaching modalities, university students face drastic changes in their physical activities, academic careers, and mental health. Our study applies a machine learning approach to explore the gender differences among U.S. university students in response to the global pandemic. Leveraging a proprietary survey dataset collected from 322 U.S. university students, we employ association rule mining (ARM) techniques to identify and compare psychological, cognitive, and behavioral patterns among male and female participants. To formulate our task under the conventional ARM framework, we model each unique question-answer pair of the survey questionnaire as a market basket item. Consequently, each participant's survey report is analogous to a customer's transaction on a collection of items. Our findings suggest that significant differences exist between the two gender groups in psychological distress and coping strategies. In addition, the two groups exhibit minor differences in cognitive patterns and consistent preventive behaviors. The identified gender differences could help professional institutions to facilitate customized advising or counseling for males and females in periods of unprecedented challenges.

Measuring Health Literacy in Romania: Validation of the HLS-EU-Q16 Survey Questionnaire

Objective: Empirical data on health literacy (HL) for Romania is almost inexistent. The present study aimed to validate the HLS-EU-Q16 questionnaire for the Romanian population and explore the predictors of HL in the North-West Region of the country.

Methods: A non-experimental, cross-sectional study was conducted between March and November 2019 on a representative, stratified random sample of 1,622 participants from the North-Western Region of Romania. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Principal component analysis (PCA), Pearson correlations, and Chronbach’s Alpha were used to validate the scale. Linear regressions were conducted to assess the determinants of health literacy.

Results: Results obtained for the HL scale support its factorial component and reliability, with a Cronbach’s alpha of α = 0.84. Age, gender, education and self-reported health status were identified as determinants of HL.

Conclusion: Study findings indicate that the Romanian version of HLS-EU-Q16 is psychometrically sound and comparable to the original version. These results provide the first validated tool to measure HL in Romanian and the first population level data for Romania.

The Romanian version of the Intuitive Eating Scale-2: Assessment of its psychometric properties and gender invariance in Romanian adults

The construct of intuitive eating is most often measured using the 23-item Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2). Here, we examined the psychometrics of a Romanian translation of the IES-2. Eight-hundred-and-thirty Romanian adults completed the IES-2 along with measures of positive body image, symptoms of disordered eating, and psychological well-being. Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) with a split-half subsample (n = 420) indicated that IES-2 scores reduced to three factors in women and four in men, both of which diverged from the parent model. Confirmatory factor analysis with a second split-half sample (n = 410) indicated that the parent model had poor fit indices, whereas fit of the EFA-derived models were acceptable but not uniformly ideal. Scores on the 3-factor model - which had comparatively better fit of the models tested - had adequate internal consistency and evidenced scalar invariance across gender. However, evidence of test-retest reliability after four weeks (n = 205) was poor and evidence of construct validity, assessed through correlations with additional measures included in the survey, was weak at best. Based on these results, we question the degree to which the construct of intuitive eating can be applied to nations undergoing nutrition transitions.