Fathers' mental Ill-health and child maltreatment: A systematic review of the literature

Abstract

BackgroundParental mental ill-health is often described as a risk factor for child maltreatment. Yet the literature commonly foregrounds maternal mental ill-health. To obtain a more complete picture, it is crucial to also understand the associations between fathers’ mental health and child maltreatment. AimTo provide a narrative synthesis of evidence about the relationship between fathers’ mental health and child maltreatment. MethodFour electronic databases were searched, identifying 5479 citations. 151 studies were brought to full-text review. 37 were included in the study. ResultsStudies revealed mixed evidence for associations between forms of paternal mental ill health and child maltreatment, with stronger evidence for paternal depression and weak or no evidence for PTSD and anxiety. Many confounding factors were identified across the papers. DiscussionThe small number and limited range of good quality studies indicate the need to correct the relative invisibility of fathers within research about mental health and child maltreatment. At present, the available evidence is not sufficient to draw firm conclusions about the association between fathers’ mental health and child maltreatment or appropriate policy and practice responses.