- Title
- "What am I thinking? Is this normal?" A cross-sectional study investigating the nature of negative thoughts, parental self-efficacy and psychological distress in new fathers
- Creator
- Wroe, Jaime; Campbell, Linda; Fletcher, Richard; McLoughland, Carmel
- Relation
- Midwifery Vol. 79, no. 102527
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2019.08.009
- Publisher
- Churchill Livingstone
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- Objective: The current study aimed to investigate an important aspect of mental health, negative thoughts, in new fathers during the postnatal year. The relationships between negative thoughts, parental self-efficacy and symptoms of depression were explored. Background: Positive and engaged father-infant relations provide a host of benefits for fathers, mothers, infants and the family system as a whole. However, there is little knowledge about the psychological factors influencing paternal engagement such as mental health and wellbeing. Methods: The study surveyed Australian fathers (n = 300) recruited through social media. Well-established measures of depressive symptoms and parental self-efficacy were used, along with a researcher modified version of Hall and Wittkowski (2006) Postnatal Negative Thoughts Questionnaire (PNTQ) adapted for use in a paternal population. Results: Findings suggest negative thoughts are typical during the transition to fatherhood. To our knowledge, this is the first study that quantitatively explores and characterises paternal postnatal negative thoughts. Limitations: The sample was relatively homogenous with only a small sample of depressed participants. Data were from self-report instruments. Conclusions: While paternal postnatal negative thoughts are a normal and important functional part of a successful transition to fatherhood, a higher frequency of negative thoughts are linked to increased symptoms of depression and lower levels of perceived parental competence.
- Subject
- postnatal negative thoughts; post birth; fatherhood; mental health
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1413086
- Identifier
- uon:36578
- Identifier
- ISSN:0266-6138
- Language
- eng
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