Prenatal and postpartum depression in fathers and its association with maternal depression: a meta-analysis.
About one in ten fathers gets depressed in the perinatal year and it peaks around three to six months — is my partner screened at any point, or only me?
Reasonable evidence with real limitations. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: Heterogeneity between studies was substantial and the 3-to-6-month peak rests on a small subset with a very wide interval (17.3-36.1%). Most included studies used screening instruments validated in women, which may not capture how depression presents in men.
Pooling 43 studies of 28,004 participants, 10.4% (95% CI 8.5-12.7) of fathers experienced depression between the first trimester and the end of the first postpartum year, peaking at 25.6% (95% CI 17.3-36.1) in the 3-to-6-month postpartum window. Paternal and maternal depression were moderately correlated (r=0.308, 95% CI 0.228-0.384) — when one parent is depressed, the other is meaningfully more likely to be too.
Worth asking
About one in ten fathers gets depressed in the perinatal year and it peaks around three to six months — is my partner screened at any point, or only me?
What to watch for
Evidence quality tells you whether to trust the finding — not whether the treatment is safe. These are the risks this research reports.
- Fertility & pregnancy risk
Source
Prenatal and postpartum depression in fathers and its association with maternal depression: a meta-analysis. — Paulson JF, Bazemore SD. (2010)
Top-tier peer-reviewed journal
Read the source: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2010.605
DOI: 10.1001/jama.2010.605
How this was scored
- Study design
- Systematic review of observational studies
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
- Published in
- Top-tier peer-reviewed journal
- Sample size
- 28,004
- Preregistered
- No
- Conflicts disclosed
- No
- Independent of proponent
- Yes
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published August 19, 2026.
Where we put this study in context
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
Resolv rates this source "moderate evidence". Reasonable evidence with real limitations. It scores 67 out of 100 on our published rubric. One caveat travels with that badge: Heterogeneity between studies was substantial and the 3-to-6-month peak rests on a small subset with a very wide interval (17.3-36.1%). Most included studies used screening instruments validated in women, which may not capture how depression presents in men. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
Prenatal and postpartum depression in fathers and its association with maternal depression: a meta-analysis. — Paulson JF, Bazemore SD. (2010). Published in: Top-tier peer-reviewed journal. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2010.605. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Systematic review of observational studies. Funding: Funding not disclosed. The researchers were independent of whoever benefits from the result. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.