Paternal Postpartum Depression: An Inaudible Cry

Abstract

Background: Researchers now days are focusing on the impact of the postpartum period in fathers but limited research is done on this topic in India. This study aimed to find out the relationship of depressive symptoms in fathers during the postpartum period with that of personality trait and perceived stress of father.
Basic Procedure: The total target sample of the study was 392 Indian fathers with infants less than 6 months of age. A purposive sampling method was used to collect the data. Fathers were screened for paternal postpartum depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Personality traits and perceived stress of fathers with positive EPDS scores (N=109) were further assessed using questionnaires.
Main Finding: Perceived stress was found highly correlated with postpartum depressive symptoms. Through Pearson correlation, personality traits like agreeableness and neuroticism were found positively correlated while openness to experience had a negative correlation with depressive symptoms in fathers during the postpartum period.
Conclusion: These findings concentrate on the relationship of particular personality traits with that of depressive symptoms in fathers during the postpartum period. Results indicate that perceived stress and personality do impart a significant role in aggravating depressive symptoms during the postnatal period. Thus, assessment of male personality traits in the peripartum period itself could help the health professionals to screen the fathers who are prone to postpartum depression.