TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations between unintended fatherhood and paternal mental health problems
T2 - a systematic review and meta-analysis
AU - Smith, Imogene
AU - O'Dea, Gypsy
AU - Demmer, David Hilton
AU - Youssef, George
AU - Craigie, Georgia
AU - Francis, Lauren M.
AU - Coles, Laetitia
AU - D'Souza, Levita
AU - Cain, Kat
AU - Knight, Tess
AU - Olsson, Craig A.
AU - Macdonald, Jacqui A.
N1 - Funding Information:
CAO is supported by a NHMRC Investigator Grant ( APP1175086 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/10/15
Y1 - 2023/10/15
N2 - Background: Unintended pregnancies are linked to adverse parental mental health, yet little attention has been given to this relationship in fathers specifically. We aimed to meta-analyse associations between unintended pregnancies and mental health problems in fathers with children aged ≤36 months. Methods: We conducted keyword searches of Medline, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, PsycInfo and Embase to February 2, 2022, and hand searched included reference lists. Results: Of 2826 records identified, 23 studies (N = 8085 fathers), reporting 29 effects, were eligible for meta-analysis. Included studies assessed depression, anxiety, stress, parenting stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol misuse and psychological distress. Pooled estimates, from random effects meta-analyses, for all mental health outcomes (k = 29; OR = 2.28) and depression only (k = 19; OR = 2.36), showed that the odds of reporting mental health difficulties were >2-fold higher in men reporting unintended births compared with those reporting intended births. However, there was no evidence of association with anxiety (k = 2) or stress (k = 2). Overall, mental health problems were greater in low-income countries. No differences were found across parity, timepoint of mental health assessment, or instruments used to measure mental health symptoms. Limitations: Analyses were limited by the use of retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention, and heterogeneity of measures used. Further, assessment of fathers' mental health was restricted to the first year postpartum. This review was limited to English language studies. Conclusions: Unintended pregnancies present an identifiable risk for postpartum mental health problems in fathers.
AB - Background: Unintended pregnancies are linked to adverse parental mental health, yet little attention has been given to this relationship in fathers specifically. We aimed to meta-analyse associations between unintended pregnancies and mental health problems in fathers with children aged ≤36 months. Methods: We conducted keyword searches of Medline, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, PsycInfo and Embase to February 2, 2022, and hand searched included reference lists. Results: Of 2826 records identified, 23 studies (N = 8085 fathers), reporting 29 effects, were eligible for meta-analysis. Included studies assessed depression, anxiety, stress, parenting stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol misuse and psychological distress. Pooled estimates, from random effects meta-analyses, for all mental health outcomes (k = 29; OR = 2.28) and depression only (k = 19; OR = 2.36), showed that the odds of reporting mental health difficulties were >2-fold higher in men reporting unintended births compared with those reporting intended births. However, there was no evidence of association with anxiety (k = 2) or stress (k = 2). Overall, mental health problems were greater in low-income countries. No differences were found across parity, timepoint of mental health assessment, or instruments used to measure mental health symptoms. Limitations: Analyses were limited by the use of retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention, and heterogeneity of measures used. Further, assessment of fathers' mental health was restricted to the first year postpartum. This review was limited to English language studies. Conclusions: Unintended pregnancies present an identifiable risk for postpartum mental health problems in fathers.
KW - Anxiety
KW - Depression
KW - Fathers
KW - Postpartum
KW - Reproductive intentions
KW - Stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85164347898&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.065
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.065
M3 - Review Article
C2 - 37393953
AN - SCOPUS:85164347898
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 339
SP - 22
EP - 32
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
ER -
