title: Parental emotions following the birth of the first child: gender differences in depressive symptoms.
abstract: This study addresses psychological issues that put first-time parents at risk for depressive disorders. In a community sample of 107 men and their wives, employment variables, marital quality, and personality attributes (fear of abandonment and loneliness) significantly explained 43% of the variance in men's, and almost 25% in women's, depressive symptoms. Men reported more symptoms than women. Men with heightened fear of loneliness were particularly at risk for depressive symptoms after birth of the first child.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1295, USA.
authors.forename: Wilma J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hock
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires