Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T16:01:50.532Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Prevalence of Postnatal Psychiatric Morbidity in Mothers and Fathers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

C. G. Ballard*
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, Mindelsohn Way, Birmingham B15 2QZ
R. Davis
Affiliation:
Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry
P. C. Cullen
Affiliation:
High Croft Hospital, Birmingham
R. N. Mohan
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Birmingham
C. Dean
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Birmingham
*
Correspondence

Abstract

In the first study to systematically examine postnatal depression in fathers, we examined depression in 200 postnatal couples, using a two-stage design. The prevalence of depression ascertained by the 13-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), using a cut-off score for ‘caseness’ of 13 or more in an unselected postnatal sample, was 27.5% in mothers at six weeks postpartum, 25.7% in mothers at six months postpartum, 9.0% in fathers at six weeks postpartum, and 5.4% in fathers at six months postpartum. The prevalence did not differ significantly in either mothers or fathers from a control group of parents with children between three and five years of age. As expected, mothers had a significantly higher prevalence of psychiatric ‘caseness’ at both six weeks and six months postpartum than fathers. Fathers were significantly more likely to be cases if their partners were also cases. The hypothesis that different aetiological factors would be important in brief and persistent disorders in mothers was upheld.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ballard, C. G. (1992) Postnatal depression in mothers and fathers. Master of Medical Science Thesis, University of Birmingham.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P., Hurry, J., Tennant, C., et al (1981) Epidemiology of mental disorders in Camberwell. Psychological Medicine, 11, 561579.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, O. W. & Harris, T. (1978) Social Origins of Depression. London: Tavistock.Google ScholarPubMed
Brown, O. W., Craio, T. & Harris, T. (1985) Depression: disease or distress? Some epidemiological considerations. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 612622.Google Scholar
Cooper, P. J., Campbell, E. A., Day, H., et al (1988) Non psychotic psychiatric disorder after childbirth: a prospective study of prevalence, incidence, course and nature. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 799806.Google Scholar
Cooper, P. J., & Stein, A. (1989) Life events and postnatal depression: the Oxford study. In Childbirth as a Life Event (eds Cox, J. L., Paykel, E. S. & Page, M. L.), pp. 3845. London: Duphar Medical Relations.Google Scholar
Murray, L. & Stein, A. (1991) Postnatal depression. In European Handbook of Psychiatry and Mental Health (ed. Seva, A.). Zaragosa: Anthropos.Google Scholar
Cox, J. L. (1986) Postnatal Depression – A Guide for Health Professionals. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Cox, J. L., Connor, Y. & Kendall, R. E. (1982) Prospective study of the psychiatric disorders of childbirth. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 111117.Google Scholar
Cronenwett, L. R. & Kunst-Wilson, W. (1981) Stress, social support and the transition to fatherhood. Nursing Research, 30, 196201.Google Scholar
Dean, C., Surtees, P. G. & Sashidharan, S. P. (1983) Comparison of research diagnostic systems in an Edinburgh community sample. British Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 128133.Google Scholar
Gerson, M.J. (1986) The prospect of parenthood for men and women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 10, 4962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, F. K., Eichler, L. S. & Winickoff, S. A. (1980) Pregnancy, Birth and Parenthood. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.Google Scholar
Harris, B., Huckle, P., Thomas, R., et al (1989) The use of rating scales to identify postnatal depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 813817.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, I. & McGrath, G. (1988) Psychiatric morbidity in spouses of women admitted to a mother and baby unit. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 506510.Google Scholar
Henderson, S., Duncan-Jones, P., Byrne, D. G., et al (1979) Psychiatric disorders in Canberra: a standardised study of prevalence. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 60, 355374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hopkins, J., Campbell, S. B. & Marcus, M. (1989) Postpartum depression and postpartum adaptation: overlapping constructs. Journal of Affective Disorders, 17, 251254.Google Scholar
Jacobsen, L., Kaij, L. & Wilson, A. (1965) Postpartum mental disorders in an unselected sample. British Medical Journal, 286, 17051708.Google Scholar
Janssen, B. (1964) Psychiatric insufficiencies associated with child bearing. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (suppl. 172).Google Scholar
Jarman, B. (1984) Under-privileged areas: validation and distribution of scores. British Medical Journal, 239, 15871592.Google Scholar
Kumar, R. & Robson, K. M. (1984) A prospective study of emotional disorders in child bearing women. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 3547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, M. E. (1982) Paternal influences in early socio-emotional development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 23, 185190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamb, M. E. (1983) The Development of Father–Infant Relationships in the Role of the Father in Child Development. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Murray, L. (1989) The Cambridge study of postnatal depression and infant development. In Childbirth as a Life Event (eds Cox, J. L., Paykel, E. S. & Page, M. L.), pp. 2336. London: Duphar Medical Relations.Google Scholar
Murray, L. (1992) The impact of postnatal depression on infant development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33, 543561.Google Scholar
Murray, L. & Carothers, A. D. (1990) The validation of Edinburgh postnatal depression scale on a community sample. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 288290.Google Scholar
Nott, P. N. (1987) Extent, timing and persistence of emotional disorders following childbirth. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 523527.Google Scholar
Nott, P. N. (1989) The Southampton study. In Childbirth as a Life Event (eds Cox, J. L., Paykel, E. S. & Page, M. L.), pp. 5761. London: Duphar Medical Relations.Google Scholar
Nott, P. N. & Cutt, S. (1982) Validation of the 30 item GHQ in postpartum women. Psychological Medicine, 12, 409413.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Hara, M. W., Neunaber, D. J. & Zakosky, E. M. (1984) A prospective study of postpartum depression: prevalence, course and predictive factors. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 457461.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Osofsky, H. (1982) Expectant and new fatherhood as a developmental crisis. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 46, 209230.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S., Emms, E. M., Fletcher, J., et al (1980) Life events and social support in puerperal depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 339346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pitt, B. (1968) Atypical depression following childbirth. British Journal of Psychiatry, 114, 13251335.Google Scholar
Pleck, J. H. (1983) Husbands' paid work and family roles: current research issues. In Research in the Interweave of Social Roles vol. 3, Families and Jobs (eds Lopeta, H. & Pleck, J. H.). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Quadagno, D. M., Dixon, L. A., Denney, E. W., et al (1986) Postpartum moods in men and women. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 10181023.Google Scholar
Raskin, V. D., Richman, J. A. & Gaines, C. (1990) Patterns of depressive symptoms in expectant and new parents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 658660.Google Scholar
Rees, W. D. & Lutkins, S. G. (1971) Parental depression before and after childbirth. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 21, 2631.Google ScholarPubMed
Russell, O. (1982) Shared care-giving families: an Australian study. In Non Traditional Families: Parenting and Child Development (ed. Lamb, M. E.). Hillsdale: NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Sashidharan, S. P., Surtees, P. G., Kreitman, N. B., et al (1990) Affective disorders among women in the general population and among those referred to psychiatrists. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 828834.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1978) Research diagnostic criteria: rationale and reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 7382.Google Scholar
Surtees, P. G., Sashidharan, S. P. & Dean, C. (1986) Affective disorder amongst women in the general population: a longitudinal study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 176186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.