title: New fatherhood and psychological distress: a longitudinal study of Australian men.
abstract: Despite growing interest and concern about men's mental health during the perinatal period, we still do not know whether men are more vulnerable to mental health problems during this time. The current study is one of the first to use longitudinal, population-based data to investigate whether becoming an expectant and/or new father is associated with increases in psychological distress. We analyzed 10 waves of data collected annually (from 2001 to 2010) from the nationally representative Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. Over this time, 349 men were identified as new fathers (first child aged <1 year), and 224 of these men had been identified as "expectant fathers" during the previous wave. A total of 1,658 men remained "never fathers." Psychological distress was measured using the 5-item Mental Health Inventory before the partner's pregnancy, during the partner's pregnancy, and during the first year of fatherhood. Longitudinal mixed models showed no significant increase in psychological distress as a function of expectant or new fatherhood; instead, some improvement in mental health was observed. The finding suggests that expectant and new fathers are not at greater risk of poor mental health. Future epidemiologic research should continue to identify those men who are most (and least) at risk during the perinatal period in order to target resources and assistance most effectively.
authors.forename: Liana S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Leach
authors.forename: Sarah C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Olesen
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Butterworth
authors.forename: Carmel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Poyser
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010332:Paternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: fatherhood; longitudinal study; men; mental health; perinatal period; psychological distress