Investigation of Predisposing Factors of Paternal Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression in fathers is one of the major problems in the postpartum period, which causes numerous side effects including disturbance in family relationships, which in turn has a negative effect on child growth and development. This research aimed to determine the prevalence of postpartum depression in fathers as well as its predisposing factors.
This descriptive-analytical study was done on 144 eligible fathers, whose spouses referred to receive postpartum care at health centers of Arak city during year 2013. Random cluster sampling was done in different areas of Arak. Demographic characteristics form and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS) were used to collect data. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 16 software, using descriptive and inferential statistics (X2 and logistic regression).
Results showed that rate of prevalence of postpartum depression among fathers was 45.8%. The X2 test showed that economic situation was a significant matter related to depression outbreak in fathers (P = 0.001). This test also demonstrated that problems with the spouse’s family was a prognosticative factor (P = 0.05). Other variables showed no relationships with paternal depression (P > 0.05).
Postpartum depression in fathers is relatively common so it is suggested to prevent it by controlling predisposing factors and treating symptoms in early phases.