Skip to main content

Advertising Disclaimer »

Main menu

  • Journals
    • Pediatrics
    • Hospital Pediatrics
    • Pediatrics in Review
    • NeoReviews
    • AAP Grand Rounds
    • AAP News
  • Authors/Reviewers
    • Submit Manuscript
    • Author Guidelines
    • Reviewer Guidelines
    • Open Access
    • Editorial Policies
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Online First
    • Archive
    • Blogs
    • Topic/Program Collections
    • AAP Meeting Abstracts
  • Pediatric Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Racism and Its Effects on Pediatric Health
    • More Collections...
  • AAP Policy
  • Supplements
  • Multimedia
    • Video Abstracts
    • Pediatrics On Call Podcast
  • Subscribe
  • Alerts
  • Careers
  • Other Publications
    • American Academy of Pediatrics

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
American Academy of Pediatrics

AAP Gateway

Advanced Search

AAP Logo

  • Log in
  • Journals
    • Pediatrics
    • Hospital Pediatrics
    • Pediatrics in Review
    • NeoReviews
    • AAP Grand Rounds
    • AAP News
  • Authors/Reviewers
    • Submit Manuscript
    • Author Guidelines
    • Reviewer Guidelines
    • Open Access
    • Editorial Policies
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Online First
    • Archive
    • Blogs
    • Topic/Program Collections
    • AAP Meeting Abstracts
  • Pediatric Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Racism and Its Effects on Pediatric Health
    • More Collections...
  • AAP Policy
  • Supplements
  • Multimedia
    • Video Abstracts
    • Pediatrics On Call Podcast
  • Subscribe
  • Alerts
  • Careers

Discover Pediatric Collections on COVID-19 and Racism and Its Effects on Pediatric Health

American Academy of Pediatrics
Article

A Longitudinal Study of Paternal Mental Health During Transition to Fatherhood as Young Adults

Craig F. Garfield, Greg Duncan, Joshua Rutsohn, Thomas W. McDade, Emma K. Adam, Rebekah Levine Coley and P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale
Pediatrics May 2014, 133 (5) 836-843; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-3262
Craig F. Garfield
aNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Departments of Pediatrics and Medical Social Sciences, Chicago, Illinois;
bAnn & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois;
cInstitute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Greg Duncan
dSchool of Education, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Joshua Rutsohn
aNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Departments of Pediatrics and Medical Social Sciences, Chicago, Illinois;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Thomas W. McDade
cInstitute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois;
eDepartment of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Emma K. Adam
cInstitute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois;
fSchool of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rebekah Levine Coley
gLynch School of Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale
cInstitute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois;
fSchool of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • Comments
Loading

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Download PDF

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Rates of paternal depression range from 5% to 10% with a growing body of literature describing the harm to fathers, children, and families. Changes in depression symptoms over the life course, and the role of social factors, are not well known. This study examines associations with changes in depression symptoms during the transition to fatherhood for young fathers and whether this association differed by key social factors.

METHODS: We combined all 4 waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to support a 23-year longitudinal analysis of 10 623 men and then created a “fatherhood-year” data set, regressing age-adjusted standardized depressive symptoms scores on fatherhood status (nonresidence/residence), fatherhood-years, and covariates to determine associations between Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale scores and fatherhood life course intervals.

RESULTS: Depressive symptom scores reported at the entry into fatherhood are higher for nonresident fathers than nonfathers, which in turn are higher than those of resident fathers. Resident fathers have a significant decrease in scores during late adolescence (β = –0.035, P = .023), but a significant increase in scores during early fatherhood (β = 0.023, P = .041). From entrance into fatherhood to the end of early fatherhood (+5 years), the depressive symptoms score for resident fathers increases on average by 68%.

CONCLUSIONS: In our longitudinal, population-based study, resident fathers show increasing depressive symptom scores during children's key attachment years of 0–5. Identifying at-risk fathers based on social factors and designing effective interventions may ultimately improve health outcomes for the entire family.

  • fathers
  • depression
  • parent–infant/child interaction
  • father involvement
  • longitudinal study
  • Accepted January 27, 2014.
  • Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics

Individual Login

Log in
You will be redirected to aap.org to login or to create your account.

Institutional Login

via Institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your librarian or administrator if you do not have a username and password.

Log in through your institution

If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.

Pay Per Article - You may access this article (from the computer you are currently using) for 2 days for US$25.00

Regain Access - You can regain access to a recent Pay per Article purchase if your access period has not yet expired.

Offer Reprints

PreviousNext
Back to top

Advertising Disclaimer »

In this issue

Pediatrics
Vol. 133, Issue 5
1 May 2014
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
View this article with LENS
PreviousNext
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Academy of Pediatrics.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
A Longitudinal Study of Paternal Mental Health During Transition to Fatherhood as Young Adults
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Academy of Pediatrics
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Academy of Pediatrics web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Request Permissions
Article Alerts
Log in
You will be redirected to aap.org to login or to create your account.
Or Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation Tools
A Longitudinal Study of Paternal Mental Health During Transition to Fatherhood as Young Adults
Craig F. Garfield, Greg Duncan, Joshua Rutsohn, Thomas W. McDade, Emma K. Adam, Rebekah Levine Coley, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale
Pediatrics May 2014, 133 (5) 836-843; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2013-3262

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
A Longitudinal Study of Paternal Mental Health During Transition to Fatherhood as Young Adults
Craig F. Garfield, Greg Duncan, Joshua Rutsohn, Thomas W. McDade, Emma K. Adam, Rebekah Levine Coley, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale
Pediatrics May 2014, 133 (5) 836-843; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2013-3262
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Print
Download PDF
Insight Alerts
  • Table of Contents

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusions
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • Comments

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • A Call to Action: Screening Fathers for Perinatal Depression
  • Toward Better Understanding of How Fathers Contribute to Their Offsprings Health
  • Fathers Roles in the Care and Development of Their Children: The Role of Pediatricians
  • Mental disorders in new parents before and after birth: a population-based cohort study
  • Is young fatherhood causally related to midlife mortality? A sibling fixed-effect study in Finland
  • Supporting Fatherhood Before and After It Happens
  • Paternal Depression in the Postnatal Period and Child Development: Mediators and Moderators
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Nurse Home Visiting and Maternal Mental Health: 3-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized Trial
  • Neighborhood Child Opportunity Index and Adolescent Cardiometabolic Risk
  • Neonates Born to Mothers With COVID-19: Data From the Spanish Society of Neonatology Registry
Show more Article

Similar Articles

Subjects

  • Psychiatry/Psychology
    • Psychiatry/Psychology
  • Adolescent Health/Medicine
    • Teen Pregnancy
    • Adolescent Health/Medicine

Keywords

  • fathers
  • depression
  • parent–infant/child interaction
  • father involvement
  • longitudinal study
  • Journal Info
  • Editorial Board
  • Editorial Policies
  • Overview
  • Licensing Information
  • Authors/Reviewers
  • Author Guidelines
  • Submit My Manuscript
  • Open Access
  • Reviewer Guidelines
  • Librarians
  • Institutional Subscriptions
  • Usage Stats
  • Support
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Resources
  • Media Kit
  • About
  • International Access
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement
  • FAQ
  • AAP.org
  • shopAAP
  • Follow American Academy of Pediatrics on Instagram
  • Visit American Academy of Pediatrics on Facebook
  • Follow American Academy of Pediatrics on Twitter
  • Follow American Academy of Pediatrics on Youtube
  • RSS
American Academy of Pediatrics

© 2021 American Academy of Pediatrics