A father's mental health during his wife's pregnancy can predict the child's future health. Supporting this factor, a new study found children of fathers who experienced depression or underwent mental health problems during pregnancy more likely to display emotional and behavioral problems at age three, USA TODAY reported.
For the study, a team of researchers from Helse Fonna Hospital in Haugesund, Norway, looked at 32,000 children in Norway. Expectant fathers filled questionnaires and provided exact details about their mental health condition after their wives conceived. Information about children's behavioral problems was collected from mothers.
Lead study author Anne Lise Kvalevaag and colleagues found fathers with depression or anxiety at 18 weeks of gestational age having toddlers with severe emotional and behavioral problems.
The results didn't change even after factors like father's age, his smoking and alcohol habits, marital status and mother's mental health condition were taken into consideration.
Even though the study couldn't fully explain the factors that led to this occurrence, according to Kvalevaag, the risk may be either passed on from father to son genetically, or may be caused by an impact of the father's mental health condition on the expecting mother.
Concerned with the findings, experts urge couples preparing for pregnancy to treat their mental problems, thus avoiding the risks.
According to James Paulson, an associate professor of psychology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., researchers "found that depression in fathers during pregnancy poses risks that are similar to postpartum depression - a finding that mirrors what we know about depression in pregnancy for mothers, but which hasn't previously been documented in fathers," USA Today reported.
"For parents and physicians, the message should be clear. We need to be aware of depression (in) both parents from the time a pregnancy is realized. This study suggests that physicians should screen for depression early and often, and make the appropriate referral as soon as it's detected."
The study is published in Pediatrics.
