Fathers can get post-natal depression, study suggests

FATHERS AS well as mothers can experience post-natal depression which could then negatively affect the future mental health of their daughters, according to new research.

A study of more than 3,000 families in the Bristol area found that one in 20 fathers experienced post-natal depression in the weeks after their child was born.

The sample was drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, which has been running since 1991.

Researchers found that girls were more likely to suffer depression at the age of 18 if their fathers had experienced the mental health issue after their birth.

The “small but significant” risk only applied to daughters, while sons were unaffected, according to the findings. Authors of the study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, believe the research could now have implications for perinatal services, which traditionally focus resources on identifying and treating post-natal depression only in mothers.

Co-author Professor Paul Ramchandani, of the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, said: “Research from this study of families in Bristol has already shown that fathers can experience depression in the post-natal period as well as mothers.”

He added: “It appears that depression in fathers is linked with an increased level of stress in the whole family, and that this might be one way in which offspring may be affected.”