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Associations of Partnership Quality and Father-to-Child Attachment During the Peripartum Period. A Prospective-Longitudinal Study in Expectant Fathers.

ABSTRACT: Background: During the transition to parenthood, a complex network of relationships unfolds between father, mother and the child. Expectant parents begin bonding with their unborn child, with this antenatal process supposedly being predictive for later postnatal attachment and child mental health. At the same time, couples may experience a change in partnership quality. While the majority of previous studies focused on associations between psychopathology, partnership quality and attachment from the perspective of mothers, the changes in partnership quality and attachment from the perspective of fathers has gained far less attention. Methods: Data were derived from the Maternal Anxiety and it's Relation to Infants' Development (MARI) study. N = 109 expectant fathers were recruited during mid-pregnancy (22 to 26 week of gestation). Lifetime anxiety and depressive disorders (DSM-IV) were assessed with a standardized diagnostic interview (CIDI). Paternal partnership characteristics and father-to-child attachments were assessed using standardized questionnaires at the second trimester, 10 days after delivery and 4 months after delivery in N = 76 fathers. Analyses were based on bivariate, robust and multivariate regression analyses. Results: Fathers did not report an overall decrease in partnership quality during the peripartum period. However, fathers with comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders reported lower partnership satisfaction at postpartum, as compared to unaffected fathers. Fathers with pure depressive disorders reported lower intensity of antenatal attachment. Paternal antenatal partnership quality was positively associated with antenatal father-to-child attachment. Furthermore, antenatal father-to-child attachment, as well as ante- and postnatal partnership quality in fathers, were positively related to postnatal father-to-child attachment. Conclusions: Antenatal father-to-child-attachment and paternal partnership quality appear to be promising targets for the prevention of postnatal attachment problems in fathers. The associations between partnership quality and attachment to the child further support an interpersonal approach in perinatal research, treatment and intervention, and may also feed into awareness programs that encourage expectant fathers to actively engage in relationships as early as during pregnancy-both with the mother and the unborn child.

SUBMITTER: Knappe S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8093807 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background: During the last decades, fathers have increasingly participated in prenatal care, birth preparation classes, and childbirth. However, comparably little is known about the prenatal emotional well-being of fathers, particularly content and extent of broader paternal concerns that may arise during pregnancy beyond those focusing on childbirth. Thus, the aims of this study were to investigate the manifestation of paternal pregnancy-related worries in a population-based sample and to identify relevant associated factors. Materials and Methods: As part of a longitudinal pregnancy cohort at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany, N = 129 expectant fathers were assessed once during pregnancy. Pregnancy-related worries centering around medical procedures, childbirth, health of the baby, as well as socioeconomic aspects were assessed with the Cambridge Worry Scale (CWS). Additionally, paternal socioeconomic background and maternal obstetrical history, symptoms of generalized anxiety and depression, and level of hostility were investigated, as well as perceived social support. The cross-sectional data were analyzed based on multiple regression analyses. Results: The level of reported worries was overall low. Some fathers reported major worries for individual aspects like the health of a significant other (10.9%) and the baby (10.1%), as well as the current financial (6.2%) and employment situation (8.5%). Pregnancy-related worries were negatively associated with household income and positively associated with anxious and depressive symptoms and low perceived social support. Associations varied for specific pregnancy-related worries. Limitations: Due to the cross-sectional data examined in this study, a causal interpretation of the results is not possible. The sample was rather homogeneous regarding its socioeconomic background. More research needs to be done in larger, more heterogeneous samples. Conclusion: Though overall worries were rather low in this sample, specific major worries could be identified. Hence, addressing those fathers reporting major worries regarding specific aspects already in prenatal care might support their psychosocial adjustment. Fathers with little income, those with elevated levels of general anxious and depressive symptoms, and those with less social support reported higher pregnancy-related worries. Our results indicate the relevance of concerns beyond health- and birth-related aspects that could be relevant for fathers. Measurements developed specifically for expectant fathers are needed to properly capture their perspective already during pregnancy.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The importance of engaging men in maternal and child health programs is well recognised internationally. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), men's involvement in maternal and child health services remains limited and barriers and enablers to involving fathers in antenatal care have not been well studied. The purpose of this paper is to explore attitudes to expectant fathers participating in antenatal care, and to identify barriers and enablers to men's participation in antenatal care with their pregnant partner in PNG. METHODS:Twenty-eight focus group discussions were conducted with purposively selected pregnant women, expectant fathers, older men and older women across four provinces of PNG. Fourteen key informant interviews were also conducted with health workers. Qualitative data generated were analysed thematically. RESULTS:While some men accompany their pregnant partners to the antenatal clinic and wait outside, very few men participate in antenatal consultations. Factors supporting fathers' participation in antenatal consultations included feelings of shared responsibility for the unborn child, concern for the mother's or baby's health, the child being a first child, friendly health workers, and male health workers. Sociocultural norms and taboos were the most significant barrier to fathers' participation in antenatal care, contributing to men feeling ashamed or embarrassed to attend clinic with their partner. Other barriers to men's participation included fear of HIV or sexually transmitted infection testing, lack of separate waiting spaces for men, rude treatment by health workers, and being in a polygamous relationship. Building community awareness of the benefits of fathers participating in maternal and child health service, inviting fathers to attend antenatal care if their pregnant partner would like them to, and ensuring clinic spaces and staff are welcoming to men were strategies suggested for increasing fathers' participation in antenatal care. CONCLUSION:This study identified significant sociocultural and health service barriers to expectant fathers' participation in antenatal care in PNG. Our findings highlight the need to address these barriers - through health staff training and support, changes to health facility layout and community awareness raising - so that couples in PNG can access the benefits of men's participation in antenatal care.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Secondhand smoke can cause adverse pregnancy outcomes, yet there is a lack of effective smoking cessation interventions targeted at expectant fathers. We examined the effectiveness of a video-based smoking cessation intervention focusing on maternal and child health in promoting quitting among expectant fathers. METHODS AND FINDINGS:A single-blind, 3-arm, randomized controlled trial was conducted at the obstetrics registration centers of 3 tertiary public hospitals in 3 major cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Foshan) in China. Smoking expectant fathers who registered with their pregnant partners were invited to participate in this study. Between 14 August 2017 to 28 February 2018, 1,023 participants were randomized to a video (n = 333), text (n = 322), or control (n = 368) group. The video and text groups received videos or text messages on the risks of smoking for maternal and child health via instant messaging. The control group received a leaflet with information on smoking cessation. Follow-up visits were conducted at 1 week and at 1, 3, and 6 months. The primary outcome, by intention to treat (ITT), was validated abstinence from smoking at the 6-month follow-up. The secondary outcomes included 7-day point prevalence of abstinence (PPA) and level of readiness to quit at each follow-up. The mean age of participants was 32 years, and about half of them were first-time expectant fathers. About two-thirds of participants had completed tertiary education. The response rate was 79.7% (815 of 1,023) at 6 months. The video and text groups had higher rates of validated abstinence than the control group (video group: 22.5% [75 of 333], P < 0.001; text group: 14.9% [48 of 322], P = 0.02; control group: 9.2% [34 of 368]) with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 2.80 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.79-4.37, P < 0.001) in the video group and 1.70 (95% CI: 1.06-2.74, P = 0.03) in the text group. The video and text groups differed in the rates of validated abstinence (22.5% versus 14.9%, P = 0.008; adjusted OR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.10-2.46, P = 0.02). The video and text groups had higher rates of 7-day PPA than the control group at 6 months (video group: 24.6% [82 of 333] versus 11.4% [42 of 368], P < 0.001; text group: 17.4% [56 of 333] versus 11.4% [42 of 368], P = 0.02). The video and text groups also differed in the rates of 7-day PPA (24.6% versus 17.4%, P = 0.02). Excluding the quitters, the video and text groups had higher levels of readiness to quit than the control group at 6 months (video group: 43.5% [109 of 251] versus 31.6% [103 of 326], P = 0.002; text group: 40.6% [108 of 266] versus 31.6% [103 of 326], P = 0.01), No such difference was detected between the video and text groups (43.5% versus 40.6%, P = 0.29). The study was limited in that the long-term effectiveness of the intervention is uncertain. CONCLUSIONS:This smoking cessation intervention for expectant fathers that focused on explaining the ramifications of smoking on maternal and child health was effective and feasible in promoting quitting, and video messages were more effective than texts in delivering the information. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03236025.

Project description:BackgroundAnxiety in parents is associated with anxiety in offspring, although little is known about the mechanisms underpinning these intergenerational associations. We conducted the first genetically sensitive study to simultaneously examine the effects of mother, father and child anxiety symptoms on each other over time.MethodAdoptive parent and child symptoms were measured at child ages 6, 7 and 8 years from 305 families involved in the Early Growth and Development Study, using a prospective adoption design. Children were adopted at birth to nonrelatives, and composite data on internalising problems within birth families were used as a proxy measure of offspring inherited risk for anxiety. Structural equation models were fitted to the data to examine prospective associations between adoptive mother, father and child symptoms, whilst accounting for individuals' symptom stability over time.ResultsChild anxiety symptoms at age 7 predicted adoptive mothers' anxiety symptoms at age 8. No mother-to-child or child-to-father effects were observed. These results were consistent in sensitivity analyses using only paternal offspring reports and using a second measure of child anxiety symptoms. Fathers' anxiety symptoms at child age 6 prospectively predicted child symptoms, but only when paternal offspring reports were included in the model. Composite data on birth family internalising problems were not associated with child anxiety symptoms.ConclusionsResults show environmentally mediated associations between parent and child anxiety symptoms. Results support developmental theories suggesting that child anxiety symptoms can exert influence on caregivers, and mothers and fathers may play unique roles during the development of child symptoms. Further research is needed on the role of genetic transmission associated with anxiety symptoms in biologically related families. In the meantime, researchers and clinicians should strive to include fathers in assessments and consider the effects of child symptoms on caregivers.

Project description:BackgroundMore than one third of Norwegian women and men between 20 and 40 years of age have elevated cholesterol concentration. Parental metabolic health around conception or during pregnancy may affect the offspring's cardiovascular disease risk. Lipids are important for fetal development, but the determinants of cord blood lipids have scarcely been studied. We therefore aimed to describe the associations between maternal and paternal peri-pregnancy lipid and metabolic profile and newborn cord blood lipid and metabolic profile.MethodsThis study is based on 710 mother-father-newborn trios from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) and uses data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN). The sample included in this study consisted of parents with and without self-reported hypercholesterolemia the last 6 months before pregnancy and their partners and newborns. Sixty-four cord blood metabolites detected by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were analyzed by linear mixed model analyses. The false discovery rate procedure was used to correct for multiple testing.ResultsAmong mothers with hypercholesterolemia, maternal and newborn plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein A1, linoleic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, alanine, glutamine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, creatinine, and particle concentration of medium high-density lipoprotein were significantly positively associated (0.001 ≤ q ≤ 0.09). Among mothers without hypercholesterolemia, maternal and newborn linoleic acid, valine, tyrosine, citrate, creatinine, high-density lipoprotein size, and particle concentration of small high-density lipoprotein were significantly positively associated (0.02 ≤ q ≤ 0.08). Among fathers with hypercholesterolemia, paternal and newborn ratio of apolipoprotein B to apolipoprotein A1 were significantly positively associated (q = 0.04). Among fathers without hypercholesterolemia, no significant associations were found between paternal and newborn metabolites. Sex differences were found for many cord blood lipids.ConclusionsMaternal and paternal metabolites and newborn sex were associated with several cord blood metabolites. This may potentially affect the offspring's long-term cardiovascular disease risk.

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Associations of Partnership Quality and Father-to-Child Attachment During the Peripartum Period. A Prospective-Longitudinal Study in Expectant Fathers.

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