Screening for Early Signs of Paternal Perinatal Affective Disorder in Expectant Fathers: A Cluster Analysis Approach.

Sonia Mangialavori,Franco Baldoni,Michele Giannotti,Marco Cacioppo,Federico Spelzini

doi:10.3390/jpm11010010

Abstract

Previous studies documented gender-related differences in the expression of Perinatal Affective Disorders. However, little attention has been paid to screening the male population during the perinatal period. This study was based on three aims: (1) to investigate the mental health of expectant fathers based on their levels of depression, anxiety, addiction, anger attacks/hostility, and somatization, identifying psychological profiles; (2) to analyze the association between these profiles and the individual variable of perceived stress; (3) and to examine the association between these profiles and the couple’s variable of marital adjustment. A total of 350 Italian expectant fathers in the last trimester of pregnancy were asked to fill in questionnaires concerning perceived stress, dyadic adjustment, psychiatric symptomatology, and depression. Three different clusters were found: “psychologically healthy men” (68%) with low levels of symptoms on all the scales; “men at risk of externalized behavioral problems” (17.1%), characterized by one or more addictive or risky behaviors and moderate levels of scales scores; and “men experiencing psychological distress” (14.9%), with the highest scores on all the scales. A significant association emerged among the perceived stress, marital adjustment, and cluster membership. These results highlight the importance of screening fathers in perinatal health services, which are still predominantly mother-centered, and underscore the necessity to create tailored and personalized interventions.

Highlights

Being a father for most men is a joyful and fulfilling journey [1], the transition to parenthood, or the arrival of an additional child, can be perceived as overwhelming and demanding [2]
The present study has strengths and limitations that should be addressed. This is the first pioneering study to examine the mental health of expectant fathers based on their levels of depression, anxiety, addiction, anger attacks/hostility and somatization by identifying psychological profiles
In doing this, we examined the association among these psychological profiles, perceived stress, and marital adjustment

Summary

Introduction

Being a father for most men is a joyful and fulfilling journey [1], the transition to parenthood, or the arrival of an additional child, can be perceived as overwhelming and demanding [2]. An ever-growing number of studies have addressed the impact of transition to parenthood on fathers’ mental health [5,6,7]; evidence to propose an appropriate gender-based screening for fathers is lacking [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. In this regard, Walsh, Davis, and Garfield [9] highlighted the urgency of increased attention to screening for Paternal. PPND is related to maternal perinatal depression [10,11,12] and poor outcomes in offspring, including externalizing and internalizing symptoms [13,14,15]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion