Related Papers
BMC Psychiatry
Working out dads (WOD): a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a group-based peer support intervention for men experiencing mental health difficulties in early fatherhood
2022 •
Monique Seymour
Background Approximately one in ten men experience mental health difficulties during the early years of fatherhood, and these can have negative impacts on children and families. However, few evidence-based interventions targeting fathers’ mental health are available. The aim of the trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Working Out Dads (WOD) – a facilitated peer support group intervention for fathers of young children, in reducing psychological distress and other mental health symptoms. Methods This trial will employ a parallel-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of WOD peer support group intervention compared to usual care (a 30-min mental health and service focused phone consultation with a health professional). A total of 280 fathers of young children (aged 0-4 years) who are experiencing mental health difficulties and/or are at risk of poor mental health will be recruited. Randomisation and analyse...
OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine
Participation in an online prenatal mindfulness- relationship-based (PMRB) program: outcomes for maternal mindfulness, mental health, interception, and mother-infant relationship during pregnancy and postpartum.
2024 •
Antonella Sansone, Alan Patching
This feasibility study sought to investigate the impact of an online 9-session Prenatal Mindfulness Relationship-Based (PMRB) group treatment program upon maternal mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress), interoception, and mother-infant relationship during pregnancy and post-partum. The study was designed in two parts 1) a quantitative examination of pre, post-treatment and 10-12 weeks post-partum measures targeting 13 pregnant women from a non-clinical population and 2) a qualitative exploration of the same pregnant women's experiences of the PMRB program reported during the sessions, including their birth stories. Responses to an open-ended question about how the program had supported them during pregnancy, labour/birth and the first post-partum trimester were summarised using thematic analysis. Women (N = 36) were recruited to the non-randomised feasibility study and 13 were allocated to the PMRB program. Women were excluded due to the online recruitment timeframe, missing baseline gestational age and unavailability for the proposed time. All the allocated women completed the program during pregnancy and the
Engaged Fatherhood for Men, Families and Gender Equality
Reducing Barriers to Engaged Fatherhood: Three Principles for Promoting Gender Equity in Parenting
2021 •
Brad Harrington
The purpose of this concluding chapter is to offer scholars, policy makers, and organizational leaders a preliminary framework for diagnosing barriers to engaged fatherhood and for generating policies, programs, and behavioral interventions to promote gender equity in parenting. We start by reviewing the case for engaged fatherhood to support the health and welfare of men and their families and to regain momentum in the stalled revolution toward gender equality. Building from the cross-disciplinary and cross-national collaboration that led to the construction of this edited volume, we propose three working principles for reducing the barriers to engaged fatherhood: (1) create individual, non-transferable parenting resources explicitly for fathers, (2) reduce economic conflicts between breadwinning and caregiving, and (3) build supportive social networks for engaged fatherhood. We explain how these principles apply to social policy, as well as to work and healthcare practices—the thr...
Frontiers in Psychology
Interventions for Perinatal Depression and Anxiety in Fathers: A Mini-Review
2022 •
Jennifer Ericksen
Background and ObjectivesUp to 10% of fathers experience perinatal depression, often accompanied by anxiety, with a detrimental impact on the emotional and behavioural development of infants. Yet, few evidence-based interventions specifically for paternal perinatal depression or anxiety exist, and few depressed or anxious fathers engage with support. This mini-review aims to build on the evidence base set by other recent systematic reviews by synthesising more recently available studies on interventions for paternal perinatal depression and anxiety. Secondarily, we also aimed to identify useful information on key implementation strategies, if any, that increase the engagement of men.MethodsWe drew upon three major previous systematic reviews and performed an updated search of PubMed/Medline; Psycinfo; Cochrane Database; Embase and Cinahl. The search was limited to trials, feasibility studies or pilot studies of interventions published between 2015 and 2020 that reported on fathers&#...
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention of Fathers in Nutrition Education and Obesity Research
2019 •
Kari Adamsons
PEDIATRICS
Fathers Roles in the Care and Development of Their Children: The Role of Pediatricians
michael yogman
Fathers’ involvement in and influence on the health and development of their children have increased in a myriad of ways in the past 10 years and have been widely studied. The role of pediatricians in working with fathers has correspondingly increased in importance. This report reviews new studies of the epidemiology of father involvement, including nonresidential as well as residential fathers. The effects of father involvement on child outcomes are discussed within each phase of a child’s development. Particular emphasis is placed on (1) fathers’ involvement across childhood ages and (2) the influence of fathers’ physical and mental health on their children. Implications and advice for all child health providers to encourage and support father involvement are outlined.
Healthcare
“Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work
Suzanne Hodgson
There is increasing research interest in the experiences of new fathers taking paternity leave, but less insight into men’s experiences of returning to work after the birth of their first baby. For many men in the UK context, this could take place immediately after the birth or after one or two weeks of paternity leave. This paper utilizes data from a UK-based study whilst also drawing on international literature and policy contexts. A constructivist grounded theory method was adopted to generate theory from the data gathered. Twelve new fathers shared their experiences in this study by participating in audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews. This paper focuses on fathers’ experiences of negotiating the workplace as part of an overall theoretical framework related to broader transitions to fatherhood and sheds light on the distress, guilt and psychological challenges that the participants experienced when they initially returned to work. Whether fathers did or did not explicitly...
Healthcare
The Experiences of First-Time Fathers in Perinatal Services: Present but Invisible
Suzanne Hodgson
Fathers in the UK are becoming more involved in the care of their infants and children. A constructivist grounded theory approach was adopted to explore men’s transition to fatherhood. This paper reports on one of the sub-categories derived from the data. First-time fathers with a child under two were recruited predominantly via social media. Audio-recorded semi-structured interviews were undertaken with an opening question asking men to tell their story of becoming a father. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using constructivist grounded theory methods. This paper reports one core aspect of the research findings which has particular relevance for healthcare professionals. The men in this study were highly appreciative of the care their partner and baby received but consistently reported a lack of father-specific support throughout their journey to fatherhood. This ranged from generally poor communication with healthcare professionals to being ignored and side-lined in matern...
FINAL_Antenatal Dads 2017.pdf
Associate Professor Yvonne K Parry
There are known linkages between child maltreatment and levels of economic and social stress that are generally prevalent in areas of relative disadvantage. Accordingly, Communities for Children (CfC) was established in 2004 following a decision by the then Australian Government to establish the ‘Stronger Families and Communities Strategy’ (2004–08). Communities for Children was one of four streams of the Strategy, with the aim of addressing the risk factors for child abuse and neglect before they escalate, and to help parents of children at risk to provide a safe, happy and healthy life for their children and thus circumvent the deleterious health, education and welfare outcomes for children at risk. CfC is a community based Initiative aimed to provide integrated services for families, particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged families, to improve child wellbeing and development, safety and family functioning. ac.care Murray Bridge is the Facilitating Partner of CfC and, as such, acts as a broker in engaging the community in the delivery of children’s and parent’s programs aimed at enhancing community outcomes. The CfC initiative aimed to improve the coordination of services for children 0-12 years and their families in order to minimise the impact of area-based disadvantage. Further, the initiative aimed to build community capacity to provide appropriate, targeted and enhanced services delivery and improve the community context for children. The whole community approach to improving child development incorporated the needs of the community. This report presents the findings from the evaluation of the ac.care Communities for Children Murraylands Antenatal Dads and First Year Families program.
International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity
Fathers' perceived role, self-efficacy and support needs in promoting positive nutrition and physical activity in the first 2000 days of life: a mixed methods study
2024 •
Mathew Gaynor
Background The first 2000 days of life are a crucial and opportunistic time to promote positive dietary and physical activity behaviours that can continue throughout life. The bulk of research on the impact of parents promoting positive dietary and physical activity behaviours has been on mothers, with the impact of fathers rarely investigated. The aim of this study is to investigate fathers' perceived role, self-efficacy and support needs in promoting positive dietary and physical activity behaviours in early childhood. Methods A sequential explanatory mixed methods study design consisted of a cross sectional survey of Australian fathers (n = 200) from a convenience sample, followed by semi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 21) with a purposeful sample of Australian fathers. Results Quantitative survey data revealed that more than 90.0% of fathers agreed that it is important to role model healthy eating and participating in physical activity with their babies, toddlers and children. A majority of fathers were confident in getting their child to eat fruit/ vegetables (90%) and playing with their child (80%). When searching for information about nutrition and physical activity, the highest proportion of fathers nominated online sources (52%) as their preferred source in survey data. Qualitative interview data revealed that while fathers exhibited high selfefficacy in their abilities, this was susceptible to deterioration due to feelings of isolation, pressures of fatherhood, a lack of information and resources that are father specific, and difficulties navigating the different types of information/ resources to find what is right for them. Conclusions Although possessing self-efficacy, being committed and seeking knowledge, many fathers found that useful information was hard to find and understand. Appropriate resources are therefore required to support the specific needs of fathers to promote positive dietary and physical activity behaviours in their infants and young children.
