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Review
. 2022 Sep 28;12(10):1598.
doi: 10.3390/jpm12101598.

Depressive Symptoms in Expecting Fathers: Is Paternal Perinatal Depression a Valid Concept? A Systematic Review of Evidence

Marianna Mazza  1   2 , Georgios D Kotzalidis  1   3 , Carla Avallone  1   2 , Marta Balocchi  4 , Ilenia Sessa  4 , Ilaria De Luca  1   2 , Daniele Hirsch  1   2 , Alessio Simonetti  1   2 , Delfina Janiri  1   2   3 , Emanuela Loi  1   2 , Giuseppe Marano  1   2 , Gabriella Albano  1   2   3 , Vittorio Fasulo  1   2 , Stefania Borghi  1   2 , Angela Gonsalez Del Castillo  4 , Anna Maria Serio  4 , Laura Monti  4 , Daniela Chieffo  4 , Gloria Angeletti  3 , Luigi Janiri  1   2 , Gabriele Sani  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Depressive Symptoms in Expecting Fathers: Is Paternal Perinatal Depression a Valid Concept? A Systematic Review of Evidence

Marianna Mazza et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

Background: Since the identification of Couvade syndrome in the late 1950s, little attention has been dedicated to the issue of depression in expecting fathers.

Objective: To quantify the extent of depression in expecting fathers and find out if they match their pregnant partners' depression.

Methods: We conducted a PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov search using paternal depression and all its variants as terms. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement to include eligible studies.

Results: We identified a grand total of 1443 articles, of which 204 were eligible. The total number of fathers/expecting fathers involved was 849,913. Longitudinal studies represented more than half of the included studies; more than three-quarters of the studies used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The average occurrence of paternal depression was around 5%, which confers the entity some clinical dignity. Depression tends to occur more in expecting women and new mothers than in expecting partners or new fathers, while the co-occurrence in the same couple is quite low.

Limitations: The methodological heterogeneity of the included studies prevents us from meta-analyzing the obtained data. The validity of the instruments used is another issue.

Conclusions: Paternal depression is distinct from maternal depression and occurs at lower rates (about half). The very existence of a paternal depression clinical entity is beyond any doubt. Future research should address methodological heterogeneity.

Keywords: couvade syndrome; expecting fathers; gender; paternal; peripartum depression; personalized approach to the patient; pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram of the search strategy, showing the selection process with reasons for exclusion [11].
Figure 2
Figure 2
The per year distribution of eligible studies. There is a steady increase starting from 2000 (please note that 2022 includes only January and February until its 3rd day).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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