title: Mother-Father Differences in Postnatal Psychological Distress and Its Determinants in Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the mother-father differences in Postnatal Psychological Distress (PPD) and its determinants among the parents with 8-weeks old children.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, applying simple random sampling, 306 postnatal parents with an 8-weeks old infant in Saqqez County, Iran, were invited to answer the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) items through the telephone interview. Fifty-eight subjects declined to participate in the study (Response Rate = 81.04%). The data were analysed using the SPSS Statistics v. 21.
  
  
  RESULTS
  About 16.9% of all the parents had PPD. The difference in the prevalence of PPD in three dimensions between the two groups were statistically significant (p < 0.01): social dysfunction (25.8% for fathers vs. 5.6% for mothers), somatic disorders (21% for fathers vs. 7.3% for mothers), and anxiety (21% for fathers vs. 6.5% for mothers). The mode of delivery of the mothers and the level of education, the number of children, monthly income, and being consent with pregnancy among the fathers were significant predictors for PPD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The level of PPD was more prevalent among the new fathers compared to the new mothers. Among the fathers, but not the mothers, socioeconomic characteristics were contributed to PPD. Considering the differences in risk factors for maternal and paternal PPD, our findings may help family health care providers and policymakers in designing gender-specific intervention programs and diagnosis tools aimed at PPD prevention among new parents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Promotion, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mahmoodi
authors.affiliation: Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Golboni
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Promotion, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Haidar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nadrian
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education, School of Public Health, Yazd University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors.forename: Moradali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zareipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Promotion, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Shayesteh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shirzadi
authors.affiliation: Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza Ghanei
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Gheshlagh
keywords: GHQ-28; Postnatal psychological distress; mental health; parents; postpartum