HEA 3060 Module 6 Fathers' Health Paper: Paternal Depression, Involvement and Paternity Leave Example

The Other New Parent: Depression, Leave and a Father in Jersey City

Student Name

B.S. in Health Studies, Thomas Edison State University

HEA-3060: Men's Health

Mentor Name

Month Day, Year

The Other New Parent: Depression, Leave and a Father in Jersey City

Introduction

Health care around a birth focuses on the mother and the infant, and for good reason. But fathers also go through a major change, with lost sleep, new responsibility and often money worries, and some become depressed. Fathers' involvement also matters for children. This paper examines depression in new fathers, the value of father involvement and whether paternity leave helps, using one invented family.

The Father

Andre is invented for this paper. He is 32, a pharmacy technician at a chain drugstore in Jersey City. His partner, Tasha, had an emergency cesarean birth six weeks ago, and their daughter is their first child. Andre went back to work after three days because he was worried about money. Since then he gets four or five hours of sleep, feels on edge, has lost interest in basketball with his friends and snaps at coworkers. He feels he should be the strong one while Tasha recovers and has told no one how he feels. Tasha has been tearful but is seeing her obstetrician.

Depression in Fathers

Paulson and Bazemore (2010) combined 43 studies with more than 28,000 participants to estimate how common depression is among fathers from the first trimester through the first year after birth. They found a rate of about 10 percent, roughly double the rate in men in general. The rate was highest three to six months after birth, at about one in four in the studies covering that period. Depression in fathers was moderately correlated with depression in mothers, so when one parent was depressed the other was more likely to be.

Andre's poor sleep, irritability, loss of interest and silence fit this picture, and his partner's difficult birth and tearfulness add to his risk.

Why Fathers Matter

Sarkadi et al. (2008) systematically reviewed long-term studies of father involvement and children's development. Most studies found positive effects of active, regular father engagement. These included fewer behavior problems in boys, fewer psychological problems in young women, better cognitive development and, in low-income families, lower rates of delinquency and economic disadvantage later in life. The authors concluded that father involvement benefits children's social, behavioral and psychological outcomes.

Does Leave Help

Huerta et al. (2014) used data from Australia, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States to examine whether fathers who take leave around a birth are more involved later. Fathers who took leave, especially two weeks or more, were more likely to carry out childcare activities such as feeding, bathing and putting the child to bed when the child was young. The authors noted that the link may partly reflect the kind of fathers who take leave, but the pattern was consistent across countries with very different policies.

New Jersey's Leave Program

New Jersey's Family Leave Insurance program allows parents, including fathers, to take up to twelve weeks of partly paid leave to bond with a new child in the first year, funded through payroll contributions. Many fathers do not know they qualify, and some fear that taking leave will be seen as lacking commitment to work. Andre assumed the program was for mothers.

Masculinity and Fatherhood

Andre's belief that he must be the strong one reflects a traditional view of the father as provider and protector. This belief kept him at work when he could have taken leave and kept him silent about his mood. Newer ideas of fatherhood value caregiving as part of being a man, and many young fathers want to be more involved than their own fathers were. Making leave normal in the workplace, for example when managers take it themselves, can help.

What Could Help Andre

Pediatric visits offer a chance to ask fathers how they are doing, and some practices now screen fathers with the same questionnaire used for mothers. Andre could talk with his own doctor about sleep and mood. Learning about the leave program could let him take several weeks to care for his daughter and support Tasha, reducing stress for both. Fathers' groups, online or in the community, can reduce isolation.

Andre's Next Step

At his daughter's two-month checkup, the pediatrician asked both parents how they were coping. Andre admitted he was struggling. The pediatrician gave him a referral and information on the state leave program. He applied for six weeks of bonding leave starting the next month.

Workplace Culture

Andre's employer is a large chain with a written leave policy, but his store manager has never taken leave and jokes about new fathers being distracted. Workplace culture shapes whether men use the leave they are entitled to. Research on fathers' leave in several countries suggests that men are more likely to take it when it is paid well, reserved for fathers rather than shared with mothers and visibly used by managers. Employers can help by explaining leave to expectant fathers, covering shifts without complaint and celebrating fathers who take time. Coworkers matter too: one father's leave makes the next father's easier.

Limits

Most studies of paternal depression used self-report questionnaires designed for women. The leave study could not fully separate the effect of leave from the traits of fathers who take it. Andre's family is invented.

Conclusion

Andre's sleeplessness and irritability after his daughter's birth are signs of a depression that affects about one in ten new fathers. Paulson and Bazemore show how common it is, Sarkadi and colleagues show why fathers' involvement matters for children and Huerta and colleagues suggest that leave helps fathers become and stay involved. Asking fathers how they are, and making leave a normal part of being a working father, can protect both fathers and their children.

References

Huerta, M. C., Adema, W., Baxter, J., Han, W.-J., Lausten, M., Lee, R., & Waldfogel, J. (2014). Fathers' leave and fathers' involvement: Evidence from four OECD countries. European Journal of Social Security, 16(4), 308-346. https://doi.org/10.1177/138826271401600403

Paulson, J. F., & Bazemore, S. D. (2010). Prenatal and postpartum depression in fathers and its association with maternal depression: A meta-analysis. JAMA, 303(19), 1961-1969. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2010.605

Sarkadi, A., Kristiansson, R., Oberklaid, F., & Bremberg, S. (2008). Fathers' involvement and children's developmental outcomes: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. Acta Paediatrica, 97(2), 153-158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2007.00572.x