Please read Dr. Schmitz’s article in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology titled, “Paternal depression in the postpartum year and children’s behaviors at age 5 in an urban U.S. birth cohort.“
Maternal depression has been linked to adverse child developmental and behavioral outcomes, including depression, poor peer interactions, externalizing and internalizing disorders, emotional dysregulation, and poor school achievement. Relatively few studies have investigated links between paternal depression and child outcomes, and most of those have been based on countries outside of the U.S., which has unique demographic, healthcare, and policy contexts. Moreover, the two U.S.-based studies that were based on nationally representative samples focused on families in which the father lived in the child’s household, despite the realities that: (1) Many births in the U.S. take place outside of marriage; for example, in 2020, 40.5% of all U.S. births were to unmarried parents. (2) Parents in the U.S. who are in non-marital cohabiting unions when their children are born have high rates of relationship dissolution; e.g., only about one third of children in an urban U.S. birth cohort in 1998–2000 who born out of wedlock lived with their fathers at age 5. (3) Most unmarried fathers in large U.S. cities, including those who have never been married to or lived with their children’s mothers, spend time with and engage in activities with their young children. (4) Non-marital childbearing is strongly associated with low socioeconomic status in the U.S. To read the full article.
Paternal depression in the postpartum year and children’s behaviors at age 5 in an urban U.S. birth cohort. Schmitz K, Jimenez ME, Corman H, Noonan K, Reichman NE. PLoS One. 2024 Apr 18;19(4):e0300018. PMID: 38635660 PMCID: PMC11025738 DOI: 1371/journal.pone.0300018