[Health-related lifestyles and personality traits in fathers of children of minor age. Results of a telephone inquiry].
70 fathers were interviewed by telephone, who had at least one child below 18 years of age and lived with or lived apart from their children because of separation or divorce. The questionnaire comprised information on health resources, health-relevant behaviours, sociodemographic measures, and personality traits as described by the 12 dimensions of the Freiburger Persönlichkeitsinventar (FPI).


OBJECTIVE
We intended to describe life situation, health-relevant behaviours and personality of separated fathers and to explore potential differences to fathers living in a normal family setting.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey with computer-aided telephone interviews (CATI).


CONCLUSIONS
Age of participants, number and age of children and many lifestyle parameters were similar in both groups. Separated fathers, however, showed a trend towards riskier lifestyles. There were no differences in health situation, but separated fathers did differ in quality of sleep and medication. Separated fathers also had significantly higher scores of three dimensions of personality (psychosomatic disorders, depressivity, emotional lability) and lower scores of the dimension masculinity. Divorce and separation are life events putting an extreme pychosocial strain on fathers. Psychosomatic disorders and depressivity as measured by the FPI show a distinct risk for fathers' health. A psychometric instrument like the FPI seems to be able to identify target groups for individual health prevention strategies.
Grill
E
E
Institut für Medizinische Informationsverarbeitung, Biometrie und Epidemiologie der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Studiengang Offentliche Gesundheit und Epidemiologie, Germany. grill@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de
Crispin
A
A
Weitkunat
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005858:Germany; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D015406:Single Parent / Q000523:psychology; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology