Expanding the international conversation with fathers' mental health: toward an era of inclusion in perinatal research and practice

Abstract

Paternal mental health is beginning to be recognized as an essential part of perinatal health. Historically, fathers were not recognized as being at risk for perinatal mental illnesses or relevant to maternal and infant health outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of paternal perinatal mental health, leading tools to assess paternal depression and anxiety, the impact of paternal mental health on mother and child health, and future directions for the field. An international team of paternal perinatal mental health experts summarized the key findings of the field. Fathers have an elevated risk of depression and anxiety disorders during the perinatal period that is associated with maternal depression and can impact their ability to support mothers. Paternal mental health is uniquely associated with child mental health and developmental outcomes starting from infancy and continuing through the child lifespan. Tailored screening approaches for paternal mental health are essential to support fathers early in the perinatal period, which would offset health risks for the family. Recommendations on paternal mental health are provided on four key areas to support father perinatal mental health: (1) intervention research, (2) clinical training, (3) national policy, and (4) the inclusion of fathers in the focus of the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health.