Overview

• A JAMA Pediatrics review analyzed 84 longitudinal studies covering thousands of father-child pairs to assess perinatal mental distress effects.
• Fathers experiencing depression, anxiety or elevated stress from conception through two years postpartum showed slight to small associations with poorer cognitive, social-emotional, language and physical development in their children.
• Postnatal mental distress had a stronger link to developmental delays than preconception distress, suggesting fathers’ well-being after birth directly influences child outcomes.
• The analysis found no evidence tying paternal mental distress to children’s adaptive skills or motor development across infancy to late childhood.
• Researchers and clinicians urge routine paternal mental health screening in perinatal care and promote tools like the PRAMS for Dads survey and mindfulness-based mobile apps to support new fathers.