Becoming a dad can be emotionally tough for any guy, but especially for young, first-time fathers. A new study finds that the first five years of parenthood — key attachment and bonding years for a child — may be the riskiest for young dads when it comes to developing depression.
Symptoms of depression increased on average by 68% over the first five years of fatherhood for men who were around 25 years old when they became fathers and lived with their children, according to the study published online today in the journalPediatrics.
"There's been a significant body of literature describing the effect of mother's depression on child development, and the health care system has tried to rise to the challenge of identifying mothers with depression," says Craig Garfield, an associate professor in pediatrics and medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Fathers have not been on the radar screen until recently. Now we know that ... right around the time of the birth is an important time to try and capture and screen those dads."
Paternal depression affects 5% to 10% of fathers, Garfield says, while about 10% to 15% of new mothers will experience maternal depression.
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