Association of adverse childhood experiences with postpartum depression and anxiety in fathers: A prospective study

Impact of adverse childhood experience on physical and mental health: A life-course epidemiology perspective

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been shown to have long-term effects on physical and mental health, not only in the US, but also other countries, including Japan. In this paper, measurement of assessment of ACEs has been discussed, that is, concept (what is ACEs), inquiry (how to ask about ACEs), scoring (how to count the number of ACEs), and prevalence (how many ACEs do we have). In addition, a possible mechanism on how ACEs affect health was summarized from a life-course perspective, using the critical/sensitive period model, pathway model, and cumulative model with recent evidence on neurological findings. Intergenerational transmission, that is, maternal ACEs affecting the health of the offspring was also reviewed. Finally, future directions on how to prevent and remedy the impact of ACEs on health was discussed.

Depressive Symptoms in Expecting Fathers: Is Paternal Perinatal Depression a Valid Concept? A Systematic Review of Evidence

BACKGROUND

Since the identification of Couvade syndrome in the late 1950s, little attention has been dedicated to the issue of depression in expecting fathers.

OBJECTIVE

To quantify the extent of depression in expecting fathers and find out if they match their pregnant partners' depression.

METHODS

We conducted a PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov search using paternal depression and all its variants as terms. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement to include eligible studies.

RESULTS

We identified a grand total of 1443 articles, of which 204 were eligible. The total number of fathers/expecting fathers involved was 849,913. Longitudinal studies represented more than half of the included studies; more than three-quarters of the studies used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The average occurrence of paternal depression was around 5%, which confers the entity some clinical dignity. Depression tends to occur more in expecting women and new mothers than in expecting partners or new fathers, while the co-occurrence in the same couple is quite low.

LIMITATIONS

The methodological heterogeneity of the included studies prevents us from meta-analyzing the obtained data. The validity of the instruments used is another issue.

CONCLUSIONS

Paternal depression is distinct from maternal depression and occurs at lower rates (about half). The very existence of a paternal depression clinical entity is beyond any doubt. Future research should address methodological heterogeneity.