Connection between depression in fathers and their daughters

How do depression in fathers affect their children??

How does it affect the children when their fathers suffer from depression? Researchers now found that girls are at an increased risk for mental health problems when their father has depressive feelings after birth.

Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford found in their recent research that fathers' depression after birth has an influence on the risk of developing depression in their daughters later in life. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "JAMA Psychiatry".

Depression of fathers after the birth of children can increase the likelihood of depression in daughters later in life. (Image: Focus Pocus LTD / fotolia.com)

The increased risk affected only the daughters

For their study, the experts examined 3,176 British families. The data came from the so-called Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. They found that one in twenty fathers suffered from depression in the weeks following the birth of their child. The researchers found a link between men with this condition and daughters who suffer from depression at age 18. The small but significantly increased risk was only for the daughters - sons were not affected by the effects according to the study.

Why are girls more affected than boys??

It is still unclear why girls are more affected at this age than boys. However, this may be related to certain aspects of father-daughter relationships, as girls undergo adolescence, experts suggest. The findings of the current study may have implications for perinatal services, which traditionally focus on the detection and treatment of postnatal depression in mothers. Fathers may suffer from depression as well as mothers during postnatal periods, explain the experts. For the first time ever, adolescents from birth to the age of 18 were medically monitored during the study. The participants were also asked about their own experiences with depression. It was found that young people whose fathers were depressed at birth showed an increased risk of depression at the age of 18 years.

People with depression need help on time

The team also looked at ways in which fathers' depression can affect children. It appears that fathers' depression is related to increased levels of stress throughout the family. This could be one way in which these depressions affect offspring. It is important to help fathers and mothers with depression in a timely manner, the doctors say.

Paternal depression can lead to problems in family life

Fathers in particular often suffer in silence, so family members often do not know about their mental health problems. Moreover, people are rarely questioned about their mental health after their parenthood, say the physicians. Previous research by the researchers has found that postnatal depression in fathers aged three and a half to seven years is associated with behavioral and emotional problems in their offspring. Paternal depression could also lead to conflicts between partners and even be involved in the development of maternal depression. (As)