According to a new study, men who become fathers at a young age can also develop symptoms of postpartum depression, Time reported.
Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study tracked 10,623 young men for about 20 years, keeping score of their depression symptoms. Men who entered fatherhood at around age 25 had a 68 percent increase of depressive symptoms over their first five years of being dads if they lived in the same home as their children.
Previous research has shown that depressed dads are more likely to neglect their kids— making it critical to identify depression symptoms in young fathers early, the researchers said.
“Parental depression has a detrimental effect on kids, especially during those first key years of parent-infant attachment,” said lead study author Dr. Craig Garfield, an associate professor in pediatrics and medical social sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “We need to do a better job of helping young dads transition through that time period.”
Leave a Reply