‘Working Out Dads’ to promote men’s mental and physical health in early fatherhood: A mixed-methods evaluation

ABSTRACT

Mental and physical health problems are common during early fatherhood. The current study aimed to assess a broad range of mental, physical and social outcomes for fathers of young children (aged 0–4 years) participating in a pilot evaluation of ‘Working Out Dads’ (WOD). These results were complemented by a nested qualitative study capturing the perceived outcomes for fathers. The sample consisted of 53 fathers who completed pre-, post- and 3-month follow-up measures. There were significant reductions in psychological distress, depression, anxiety and stress from pre- to post-intervention, which were maintained at 3-month follow-up. There were significant improvements in perceived vitality levels across all time points, and improvements in general physical health, social support and parenting self-efficacy from pre- to the 3-month follow-up. The nested qualitative results revealed that fathers and their partners perceived positive changes to paternal health, social support, parenting and the couple relationship. These findings contribute to the evidence-base for interventions targeting fathers’ health in the early years of their children's lives. The current findings will be used to inform further development of WOD.

KEYWORDS:

• Father
• mental health
• physical health
• social outcomes
• intervention

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Victorian Government Operational Infrastructure Support Program; NHMRC Career Development Fellowship; The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare; Bennelong Foundation.