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Symptoms of depression in Swedish fathers in the postnatal period and development of a screening tool

Psouni, Elia LU orcid ; Agebjörn, Johan and Linder, Hanne (2017) In Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 58(6). p.485-496
Abstract

Methods for detecting depression in fathers after the birth of their child are scarce. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), used to screen mothers for postpartum depression (PPD), lacks somatization and externalizing items. This potentially decreases its sensitivity in detecting depression in fathers, as many men actually express depression with somatization or externalizing symptoms. The present study assessed depressive symptoms in fathers of children 0-18 months old, and evaluated whether addressing both typical depression and externalizing, so-called "depressive equivalent" symptoms, might be more suitable for such assessment. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), EPDS, and Gotland Male Depression Scale (GMDS) were... (More)

Methods for detecting depression in fathers after the birth of their child are scarce. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), used to screen mothers for postpartum depression (PPD), lacks somatization and externalizing items. This potentially decreases its sensitivity in detecting depression in fathers, as many men actually express depression with somatization or externalizing symptoms. The present study assessed depressive symptoms in fathers of children 0-18 months old, and evaluated whether addressing both typical depression and externalizing, so-called "depressive equivalent" symptoms, might be more suitable for such assessment. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), EPDS, and Gotland Male Depression Scale (GMDS) were responded to by 447 Swedish fathers online. Among participants, 27% reported depressive symptoms above the BDI-II cut-off suggestive of depression. Most fathers reported both traditional and depressive equivalent symptoms and a subgroup expressed exclusively depressive equivalent symptoms. Consistently, a scale combining items from the EPDS and GMDS showed higher sensitivity than the EPDS alone in identifying fathers with elevated depressive symptoms, at equal levels of specificity. Our findings suggest that a combination of EPDS and depressive equivalent symptom items results in a more suitable instrument for screening for depression in fathers during the postnatal period.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
EPDS, Depression, Fathers, Male depression, Postpartum depression, Screening
in
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
volume
58
issue
6
pages
485 - 496
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85031716951
  • pmid:29052228
  • wos:000414469800002
ISSN
0036-5564
DOI
10.1111/sjop.12396
project
POSTNATAL DEPRESSION and ANXIETY in TODAY’S FAMILIES – RISK FACTORS and CONSEQUENCES for PARENTS and CHILDREN
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
046f8c88-10d9-445b-af06-da9f8704f45f
date added to LUP
2017-10-31 09:18:15
date last changed
2024-04-14 21:33:16
@article{046f8c88-10d9-445b-af06-da9f8704f45f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Methods for detecting depression in fathers after the birth of their child are scarce. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), used to screen mothers for postpartum depression (PPD), lacks somatization and externalizing items. This potentially decreases its sensitivity in detecting depression in fathers, as many men actually express depression with somatization or externalizing symptoms. The present study assessed depressive symptoms in fathers of children 0-18 months old, and evaluated whether addressing both typical depression and externalizing, so-called "depressive equivalent" symptoms, might be more suitable for such assessment. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), EPDS, and Gotland Male Depression Scale (GMDS) were responded to by 447 Swedish fathers online. Among participants, 27% reported depressive symptoms above the BDI-II cut-off suggestive of depression. Most fathers reported both traditional and depressive equivalent symptoms and a subgroup expressed exclusively depressive equivalent symptoms. Consistently, a scale combining items from the EPDS and GMDS showed higher sensitivity than the EPDS alone in identifying fathers with elevated depressive symptoms, at equal levels of specificity. Our findings suggest that a combination of EPDS and depressive equivalent symptom items results in a more suitable instrument for screening for depression in fathers during the postnatal period.</p>}},
  author       = {{Psouni, Elia and Agebjörn, Johan and Linder, Hanne}},
  issn         = {{0036-5564}},
  keywords     = {{EPDS; Depression; Fathers; Male depression; Postpartum depression; Screening}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{485--496}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Psychology}},
  title        = {{Symptoms of depression in Swedish fathers in the postnatal period and development of a screening tool}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12396}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/sjop.12396}},
  volume       = {{58}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}