Are Young Fathers at Increased Risk of Depression?

Becoming a parent can be a difficult issue, particularly for first-time fathers. A recent study shows that fathers at a young age may be at a higher risk of depression during the first few years of their fatherhood.

In fact, researchers found that symptoms of postpartum depression increased by an average of 68 percent over the first five years of fatherhood, particularly for fathers around 25.

The study examined over 20,000 men who were participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which began in 1994 and followed subjects for 20 years. Every couple years, participants were asked to take a 10-question screening test based on depressive symptoms, which questioned whether they felt unhappy, tired or disliked.

As postpartum depression is characterized by severe depressive symptoms that develop after the the birth of a child, it is typically more common in mothers.

However, lead study author Dr. Craig Garfield, a professor in pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, found that depression affects five to 10 percent of fathers, as well, while it affects around 10 to 15 percent of mothers.

Findings showed that out of roughly 10,600 young men involved in the project, only one-third had become fathers by the age of 24 to 32. Study results also showed that depression sources shifted over time. For instance, fathers who lived with their children had scores that increased by an average of 68 percent within the first five years of their child's life. However, these men were still not clinically diagnosed with depression, according to the results.

"Many men started off with very low [scores], so even with that increase they probably wouldn't screen positive for depression," Garfield said, via Health Day. "But some would."

However, researchers found that young fathers who did not live with their children were more likely to show an increase in symptoms before entering into fatherhood, but not during the first five years of parenting. Yet researchers conclude that additional research is needed as early fatherhood does not seem to be the cause of depressive symptoms. More to the point, it seems to only show an association between the two.

More information regarding the study can be seen via the journal Pediatrics.