Long-term effects of maternal postpartum depression on mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress

ABSTRACT

Ongoing disturbances in parental psychological functioning are proposed as one of the mechanisms linking maternal PPD and adverse child development. We examined the effect of maternal PPD on mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress and depressive symptoms at child age five. Depressive symptoms and parenting stress were assessed using self-report questionnaires at child age five in a sample of nonclinical mothers (n = 31) and mothers previously diagnosed with PPD (n = 12) and their partners. Maternal PPD diagnosis was associated with mothers’ but not fathers’ depressive symptoms at child age five. Maternal PPD diagnosis was associated with more parental distress in mothers and fathers, although, for mothers, this relationship was better explained by own concurrent depressive symptoms. Finally, maternal PPD diagnosis was associated with mothers reporting more difficult parent–child interactions. Overall, the study shows that maternal PPD diagnosis has long-term negative effects on both mothers’ and fathers’ parenting resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Postpartum depression
• postnatal depression
• parenting stress
• fathers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Compliance with ethical standards

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committees. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Data availability

Data is available upon request to the corresponding author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ida Egmose

Ida Egmose is a postdoctoral researcher at Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, University of Copenhagen.

Anne Tharner

Anne Tharner is assistant professor at Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Clinical Child and Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit.

Kaja B. Liebenberg

Kaja B. Liebenberg is a research assistant at the center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Unviersity of Oslo.

Tine Steenhoff

Tine Steenhoff is a postdoctoral researcher at Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, University of Copenhagen.

Mette Skovgaard Væver

Mette Skovgaard Væver is associate professor and director of Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, University of Copenhagen.