Paternal bonding is influenced by prenatal paternal depression and trait-anxiety

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants’ sociodemographic information.

Age in years (mean, range, sd)	36.5 (28–46, 4.35)
Working hours per week (mean h, range, sd)	40,48 (0–55, 9.70)
Education No school degree 9 years schooling 10 years schooling 12/13 years schooling Job specialization University degree Missing	N (%) 0 0 1 (1.6) 2 (3.2) 5 (7.9) 55 (87.3) 0
History of mental illness No Yes (Major depression) Missing	N (%) 56 (88.9) 2 (3.2) 5 (7.9)
Gender of infants Male Female Missing	N (%) 28 (44.4) 31 (49.2) 4 (6.4)
Married N (%)	43 (68.3)
Child is Firstborn N (%)	53 (84.1)

Total sample N = 63 fathers.

Table 2. EPDS, STAI-T at pregnancy and 3 month pp and PBQ at 3 month pp – Descriptive statistics and Correlations (only Fathers).

				Variables
	M	SD	Min.-Max.	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.
1. EPDS pregnancy	3.21	4.17	0–23	-
2. EPDS 3 month pp	2.95	3.02	0–13	.485***	-
3. STAI-T pregnancy	29.64	8.31	20–54	.656***	.579***	-
4. STAI-T 3 month pp	29.43	9.13	20–58	.457***	.554***	.706***	-
5. PBQ Total score	10.89	8.20	0–36	.233	.441**	.312*	.493***	-
6. PBQ Impaired bonding	6.08	4.83	0–18	.207	.412**	.300*	.452***	.961***	-
7. PBQ Rejection and anger	2.19	2.51	0–10	.216	.275*	.296*	.356**	.819***	.695***	-
8. PBQ Anxiety about care	2.62	1.81	0–9	.328*	459***	.313*	.452***	.671***	.538***	.515***	-

***p < 001; **p < .01; *p < .05.

Table 3. EPDS (Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale) at pregnancy and 3 month pp (postpartum) and PBQ (Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire) at 3 month pp – Intercorrelations mothers and Fathers and descriptives statistics (only for mothers)¹.

	Mothers
Fathers	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.
1. PBQ Total score	.512***	.491***	.467***	.259*	.078	.157
2. PBQ Impaired bonding	.539***	.531***	.476***	.283*	.047	.202
3. PBQ Rejection and anger	.318*	.303*	.352**	.059	.102	.038
4. PBQ Anxiety about care	.399**	.304*	.364**	.283*	.108	.106
5. EPDS pregnancy	−.031	−.004	−.003	.056	.221	−.008
6. EPDS 3 month pp	.232	.259*	.180	.178	.042	.085
M (S)^1	11.55 (8.25)	6.10 (4.44)	2.83 (2.99)	2.62 (1.93)	4.24 (3.36)	5.45 (4.52)
Min.-Max^1	0–36	0–19	0–11	0–8	0–14	0–20

^aThis information for Father variables has been shown in Table 2.

***p < .001; **p < .01; *p < .05.

Table 4. Influence of depressiveness and anxiety on father’s bonding - Stepwise (foward) regression analysis.

	PBQ Total Score*		PBQ Impaired bonding*		PBQ Rejection and anger*		PBQ Anxiety about care*
Model 1	ß	T (p)	ß	T (p)	ß	T (p)	ß	T (p)
EPDS Mother pregnancy	.148	.896 (.375)	.049	.296 (.769)	.218	1.330 (.190)	.234	1.435 (.158)
EPDS Mother 3 mo. pp	−.050	−.300 (.766)	.072	.433 (.667)	−.155	−.944 (.350)	−.199	−1.223 (.228)
	R^2 .018; F = .408; p .667		R^2 .011; F = .246; p .783		R^2 .041; F = .958; p .391		R^2 .052; F = 1.236; p .300
Model 2
EPDS Mother pregnancy	.019	.133 (.895)	−.070	−.458 (.650)	.082	.560 (.579)	.156	1.158 (254)
EPDS Mother 3 mo. pp	−.092	−.654 (.517)	.043	.286 (.777)	−.193	−1.323 (.193)	−.259	−1.937 (.060)
STAI-T Father pregnancy	−.666	−2.438 (.019)	−.613	−2.073 (.045)	−.613	−2.156 (.037)	−.514	−1.974 (.055)
STAI-T Father 3 mo. pp	.490	1.794 (.080)	.416	1.407 (.167)	.628	2.209 (.033)	.221	.851 (.400)
EPDS Father pregnancy	.502	2.952 (.005)	.480	2.607 (.013)	.400	2.261 (.029)	.427	2.636 (.012)
EPDS Father 3 mo. pp	.331	1.867 (.069)	.268	1396 (.170)	.160	.871 (.389)	.556	3.296 (.002)
	R2 .402; F = 4.597; p .001		R2 .299; F = 2.910; p .019		R2 .353; F = .3.726p .005		R2 .457; F = 5.743; p .000

excluded variables: paternal age, gender of infant, first child, education, working hours per week.

*3 mo. pp.