Citation

Fletcher R, Dowse E, St George J, Payling T. J. Child Health Care 2017; 21(4): 498-508.

Affiliation

Family Action Centre, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1367493517732166

PMID

29110526

Abstract

Paternal perinatal depression and anxiety is a common, though under-recognized mental health condition experienced by men during their transition to fatherhood. An opportunity to screen for paternal mental health issues occurs when parents present for assistance with the care of their baby at early parenting services (EPSs). There are 10 EPSs located across Australia that provide specialist, multidisciplinary interventions to support parents experiencing complex parenting difficulties. Using structured telephone interviews, this qualitative study explored the views of 18 professional staff from nine EPSs regarding screening, referral processes and acceptability of screening fathers for mental health issues. A thematic analysis revealed that most EPSs screened fathers for depression. Participants agreed screening was important and that routine approaches to screening would help normalize the process for both men and services. Despite this, no uniform, comprehensive approach to identifying the mental health needs of fathers was found. EPSs provide a unique opportunity to address the mental health needs of fathers.

RESULTS from this study point to the need for a national approach to the development of father-specific screening guidelines for EPSs to improve family well-being, in parallel to those informing the Australian National Perinatal Mental Health Initiative for mothers.

Language: en

Keywords

Assessment; early parenting; father; mental health; parenting support; services