Sad Dads and Troubled Tots: Protective Factors Related to the Stability of Paternal Depression and Early Childhood Inter
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Sad Dads and Troubled Tots: Protective Factors Related to the Stability of Paternal Depression and Early Childhood Internalizing Problems Lindsay Taraban 1
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Julia S. Feldman 1 & Melvin N. Wilson 2 & Thomas J. Dishion 3 & Daniel S. Shaw 1
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The present study tested the moderating role of interparental relationship quality and child inhibitory control on the stability of paternal depression over time and associations between paternal depression and child internalizing problems in early childhood. Participants were a subsample (n = 166) of families from the Early Steps Multisite study, a longitudinal study of low-income parents and children. Interparental relationship quality (age 2) attenuated the association between paternal depressive symptoms at age 2 and paternal depressive symptoms at age 3. Both interparental relationship quality (age 3) and child inhibitory control (age 3) attenuated the association between paternal depressive symptoms (age 3) and age 4 child internalizing problems. Results suggest that high interparental relationship quality may be a protective factor in terms of lessening the stability of paternal depressive symptoms over time, as well as the association between paternal depression and later child internalizing problems. Similarly, high levels of inhibitory control may buffer children from the negative effects of paternal depression on the development of internalizing problems. Keywords Paternal depression . Interparental relationship quality . Inhibitory control . Family context . Child internalizing problems
Paternal Depression in Early Childhood Much attention has been devoted to understanding the impact of parental depressive symptoms on child outcomes. Most of the parental depression research has focused on mothers on the basis that rates of depression are higher in women compared to men, and that women are more often primary caregivers for their children, especially during early childhood (Shaw et al. 2009a). However, while it is true that depression is more prevalent in women, paternal depression is not uncommon. An estimated 4.8% of fathers are affected by depression in the postnatal period, with rates increasing by 68% over the first five years of the child’s life (Garfield et al. 2014). Unfortunately, we know little about what predicts the
persistence versus lessening of paternal depressive symptoms during early childhood or how paternal depression affects young children’s development (Lewis and Lamb 2003; Rosenthal et al. 2013). The relative lack of research on paternal depression and on fatherhood more generally (Parent et al. 2017) is especially concerning, as during the past several decades, fathers’ engagement in caregiving activities has increased significantly (Pew Research Center 2016). In fact, as of the 2010 census, one in five U.S. fathers of preschoolers was regarded as the primary caregiver for his child (United States Census Bureau 2011). Thus, now more than ever, understanding the proc
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