Study Shows Importance of Emotionally Healthy Fathers

When Mothers’ Poor Mental Health Affects Children

CINCINNATI -- (August 2004) A new Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center study points to the important role fathers may play in their children’s emotional and behavioral health. 

The study shows that a father in good mental health can substantially reduce the negative influence of a mother’s poor mental health on a child’s behavioral and emotional well-bring.

“If a mother and father are depressed, the odds that a child will have behavioral or emotional problems go up eight-fold,” says Robert S. Kahn, MD, MPH, a physician/researcher in the division of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s and the study’s lead author.  “The risk is less elevated if only the mother reported poorer mental health and not elevated at all if only the father reported poorer mental health.” 

The study, published in the August 2004, issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, is one of the first and largest studies to examine the joint effects of mothers’ and fathers’ mental health symptoms.   

The researchers examined data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics -- a national, longitudinal survey of families of 822 children between the ages of 3 and 12 who were living with both parents.  The survey included a validated screen for serious adult mental illness, including depression and anxiety disorders.  Parents with scores in the upper 25 percent were considered to be in poorer mental health.  The measure of child well-being was the Behavior Problems Index. 

The researchers also found that when a mother and father have poor mental health, the influence on a child’s behavioral problems is particularly strong for boys. 

“Many studies have shown that poor maternal mental health has negative impacts on their children’s behavior and emotional health,” says Robert C. Whitaker, MD, senior fellow at Mathematical Policy Research, Inc., and co-author of the study.  “Rarely have studies used information about the mental health of both parents to assess outcomes in their children.  This study suggests that what happens to children’s well-being when their mothers suffer mental health problems depends on whether the father is healthy.”

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is a 423-bed institution devoted to bringing the world the joy of healthier kids.  Cincinnati Children's is dedicated to transforming the way health care is delivered by providing care that is timely, efficient, effective, patient-centered, equitable and safe.  It ranks third nationally among all pediatric centers in research grants from the National Institutes of Health.  The Cincinnati Children's vision is to be the leader in improving child health.  Additional information can be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org. (printed with permission.)