Summary: Health experts call for routine screening of new fathers for mental distress, pointing to growing evidence that a father’s mental health significantly influences a child’s emotional, cognitive, social and language development. Depression, anxiety and stress in new dads are consistently associated with poorer developmental outcomes in children.
Although screening for maternal postpartum depression has become standard practice, comparable attention to fathers is often missing. Approximately 14% of fathers experience postpartum depression, a rate similar to mothers, but fathers frequently underreport symptoms. New public health tools such as PRAMS for Dads are being adopted by states to better identify and address paternal mental health needs and to strengthen family support systems.
Key Facts:
- Paternal impact: A father’s mental health influences multiple areas of child development, including socioemotional and cognitive domains.
- Underrecognized need: An estimated 14% of fathers experience postpartum depression, yet many cases go undiagnosed because men often minimize symptoms.
- Public health response: PRAMS for Dads is a new surveillance tool expanding across states to monitor and respond to paternal health during the perinatal period.
Source: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Experts from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago emphasize the importance of screening new fathers for mental distress, citing a growing body of research that shows how paternal wellbeing affects children and family health.
In an invited commentary published alongside a systematic review in JAMA Pediatrics, clinicians and researchers highlight that paternal depression, anxiety and stress during the perinatal period are linked to poorer outcomes in children’s social, emotional, cognitive and language development.
“The birth of a child is a major transition and can be highly stressful for both parents,” said Craig Garfield, MD, MAPP, pediatrician and founder of the Family & Child Health Innovations Program (FCHIP) at Lurie Children’s, and Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
“In the United States, routine screening for postpartum depression in new mothers has been in place for more than a decade. We should adopt a similar approach for fathers because an increasing number of studies demonstrate that paternal mental health affects child development and the overall wellbeing of families.”
Nationwide estimates indicate roughly 14% of fathers experience postpartum depression. This figure may understate the true burden because men are less likely to report emotional distress or to seek help. Clinicians and public health professionals therefore need strategies that identify and engage fathers during pregnancy and the early parenting period.
“Clinicians should rethink how they approach new fathers,” Dr. Garfield added. “We need to involve fathers earlier and more consistently, normalize common feelings of sadness, anxiety or fear during this life-changing phase, and educate both parents on warning signs so they know when to seek help.”
To better capture fathers’ experiences and needs, Dr. Garfield helped develop PRAMS for Dads, a pioneering public health survey tailored to fathers. Launched in Georgia, PRAMS for Dads is expected to be operational in eight states by the end of 2025, with ongoing efforts to expand the system to more states. This surveillance tool enables health departments to direct resources toward the most pressing issues affecting new fathers and to design targeted interventions.
Dr. Garfield noted that PRAMS for Dads also clarifies how fathers influence child health behaviors—research using data from the survey has demonstrated notable effects on breastfeeding and safe infant sleep practices when fathers are engaged and supported.
Dr. Garfield recently participated in a three-day “Mapping the Future of Fatherhood in Australia” event following a residency at Deakin University, where colleagues contributing to the JAMA Pediatrics paper are based. He has reflected on those discussions in a personal blog, describing international perspectives on supporting fathers’ health to improve outcomes for children.
In addition to Dr. Garfield, commentary authors from Lurie Children’s include Clarissa Simon, PhD, MPH, and John James Parker, MD, who reinforce the need for clinical and public health strategies that recognize fathers as essential partners in child development and family wellbeing.
About this mental health and neurodevelopment research news
Author: Julianne Bardele
Source: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Contact: Julianne Bardele – Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Closed access. “Paternal Mental Health and Child Development Across Multiple Domains” by Craig Garfield et al., published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Abstract
Paternal Mental Health and Child Development Across Multiple Domains
The systematic review and meta-analysis by Le Bas and colleagues synthesizes global evidence on the relationship between paternal perinatal mental distress (including depression, anxiety, mixed anxiety and depression, and stress) and child developmental outcomes. The review is notable for its scope and methodological rigor.
The authors screened 8,023 initial studies, reviewed 777 full-text articles, and selected 84 studies that contributed 674 effect sizes to the analysis. To reduce publication bias, they contacted authors of qualifying studies that had not reported the outcomes of interest; that outreach yielded an additional 244 effect sizes. The review also stratified results by type of mental distress, developmental domain, timing of exposure (antenatal vs. postnatal), and child age at assessment.
Their findings are consistent and robust: paternal mental illness is associated with poorer child developmental outcomes across mental distress types (anxiety, depression, stress), developmental domains (global, socioemotional, cognitive, language), timing (antenatal and postnatal), and child age groups. These results add to the growing evidence base that paternal mental health matters for child development and should inform screening, prevention and intervention strategies in clinical and public health settings.