Longitudinal Pathways of Paternal Depression: Risk, Resilience, and Health in Diverse Fathers

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Families benefit from father involvement. Yet, the transition to fatherhood can be a time of heightened risk for depression in men, with important consequences for families. For example, paternal depression has been linked with behavior and health problems in children, greater maternal depression, poorer relationship quality, and poorer overall familial well-being.The specific mechanisms that explain the relationship between paternal depression and family outcomes remain under-studied, especially in populations of diverse fathers whose experiences of fatherhood may differ in important ways. This study builds on theoretical insights from developmental and family psychology to understand the mechanisms underpinning relationships between paternal depression and family outcomes. Insights will inform practice and policy efforts geared toward fathers and families, and will also train students and provide early-career mentoring for individuals from underrepresented groups. Findings will be disseminated broadly to academic and non-academic audiences, including via targeted public outreach. The project will follow an existing sample of fathers recruited before the birth of their first child across the first seven years of new parenthood, pursuing three primary objectives: 1) describe the longitudinal trajectories of paternal depressive symptoms; 2) test relationships among paternal depressive symptoms, family functioning, and child development; and 3) examine associations between paternal depressive symptoms and psychneuroimmunological outcomes. The study pursues these objectives via holistic methodological approach, including collection of biological data for assessment of immunological function, brain imaging, and behavioral observations. As one of the first prospective, longitudinal studies of paternal perinatal depression and its associations with child and mother well-being as well as immune and brain health, this project will yield new insights into father mental health, father-child relationships, and child development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.