About this session

Thursday, 11:50 AM - 1:20 PM

Fatherhood through the Perinatal Period: Intergenerational Transmission of Mental Health Problems and Opportunities for Intervention

Growing research recognizes that fathers can experience significant mental health challenges during the perinatal period, including elevated depression and anxiety symptoms, particularly when maternal mental health is compromised. Research increasingly demonstrates the impact of paternal mental health on overall family functioning, child development, and their partners’ well-being. However, paternal mental health and adjustment across the perinatal period remains largely understudied and frequently excluded from perinatal studies that typically focus on mother-child dyads. This symposium addresses this critical gap with three papers that explore fathers’ adjustment during this developmentally salient period, drawing on international speakers, diverse, longitudinal studies and multi-method approaches (e.g., multi-informant report, neuroimaging, randomized controlled trial). The first paper investigates the relation between maternal and paternal perinatal depressive symptoms, assessing whether a brief prenatal intervention for maternal depression may also reduce fathers’ postpartum depressive symptoms and influence fathers' perceptions of their partners’ mental health. The second paper considers how early life experiences impact men’s transition to parenthood, evaluating how childhood exposure to conflictual and chaotic family environments shapes first-time fathers’ prenatal neurobiology (white matter organization) and postpartum parenting. Among a large-scale birth cohort, the third paper evaluates longitudinal trajectories of fathers’ pre- and postnatal depressive and anxiety symptoms and their relation to child socioemotional outcomes during early childhood. The discussion will provide a nuanced understanding of predictors and consequences of paternal psychological adjustment across the perinatal period; catalysts and barriers to including fathers in empirical work; and future directions for fatherhood science and implications for perinatal prevention and intervention.

Paper #1
Title	Exploring the Effects of a Maternal Prenatal Depression Intervention on Fathers’ Postpartum Mental Health
Presenting author	Sarah G. Curci, PhD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Department of Psychiatry/University of Denver, Department of Psychology, United States

Paper #2
Title	Trajectories of paternal depressive and anxiety symptoms and child’s socio-emotional development in early childhood
Presenting author	Katja Tervahartiala, 1. Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Assistentinkatu 7, 20014 Turku, Finland; 2. Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Mattilanniemi 6, 40100 Jyväskylä, Finland; 3. Centre of Excellence in Learning Dynamics and Intervention Research (InterLearn), University of Jyväskylä and University of Turku, Mattilanniemi 6, 40100 Jyväskylä, Finland; 4. FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 10, 20520 Turku, Finland; 7. Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Kiinamyllynkatu 10, 20520 Turku, Finland, Finland

Paper #3
Title	Risky Family Environments, Prenatal White Matter Organization, and Effective Parenting in First-time Fathers
Presenting author	Sofia I. Cárdenas, MA, Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, United States

View all paper details

Session chair
Sarah Gianna Curci, University of Denver/University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, United States

Discussant
Dr. Angela J. Narayan, Ph.D., University of Denver, Department of Psychology, United States

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