Depressed Dads More Likely To Spank: Is Male Postpartum On The Rise?

Postpartum depression in women is well documented, but dads also get the blues, and new research suggests it negatively affects their parenting.

A new study, from the journal Pediatrics shows that depressed fathers are more likely to spank their 1-year-olds than their non-depressed counterparts.

Researchers interviewed more than 1,700 fathers of 1-year-olds and found that the 7 percent who reported suffering from depression (assessed using a WHO diagnostic interview form) were four times more likely to report having spanked their child in the last week. The depressed dads were also less likely to engage in positive parenting activities, like reading aloud.

The study joins a growing body of evidence showing that paternal depression is a real problem. A 2010 report in JAMA analyzed data from nearly 30,000 dads and found that some 10 percent suffered from depression. That rate spiked to almost 25 percent during the three- to six-month postpartum period. And depression in dads may not only impact parenting techniques, but overall well being in kids as well.

Another study in the journal Pediatrics, this one from 2009, established a possible link between excessive infant crying (colic) and paternal depression. Depressed dads were almost twice as likely to report colicky babies. Researchers said this could indicate a genetic transmission of depressive symptoms, but it could also be related to factors like fathers' decreased sensitivity towards their babies.

The question is whether dad depression is increasingly prevalent or if there's just more information on the issue. Earlier this month, the British Journal of Psychiatry ran an article hypothesizing that former might be true. TIME reports that Dr. Broadie Dunlap, who is currently working on recruiting patients for a depression study, questioned if male depression will increase in light of the recession, as layoffs force some men to relinquish their role as primary breadwinner. TIME writes that if -- as Broadie hypothesizes they might -- the cultural and economic shifts associated with the recession make men more vulnerable to depression, there could be evidence that the environment plays a dominant role in triggering depression in men.

Comments

[fourthestatepost]

08:23 PM on 03/20/2011

However, I also must add that hitting a one year old is never ok. They have no concept of right and wrong so it's kind of pointless. Hitting a one year old is less disciplining them and more you taking out your aggression on someone who can't protect themself.

[fourthestatepost]

08:15 PM on 03/20/2011

Don't get me wrong. I am against child abuse 100 percent. But I am completely against not spanking your child. You can bet that all of the worlds upstanding, decent, compassionate, honorable adults got their asses spanked when they were little.

Bottom line if you don't want your child to be like one of those entitled parasites on "My Super Sweet 16" spank them (just don't overdo it).

[SharonMcEachern]

08:58 PM on 03/18/2011

SPANKING RESEARCH FIND TERRIBLE EFFECTS

Spanking has been illegal in Sweden for 32 years. A number of countries outlaw this violence to kids, the most recent being Tunisa and Brazil may be next. Research has show how spanking children actually LOWERS INTELLIGENCE:

http://www.ethicsoup.com/2009/10/spanking-kids-are-struck-dumb-lower-iqs.html

More research shows how spanking does not work and makes kids MORE AGGRESSIVE:

http://www.ethicsoup.com/2010/04/do-you-want-a-spanking-it-doesnt-work-spanking-creates-aggression.html

Other studies find parents who spank their kids also practice PARTNER VIOLENCE & ABUSE. It's a family affair:

http://www.ethicsoup.com/2010/10/spanking-kids-go-hand-in-hand-with-partner-violence-and-psychological-abuse.html

[JoliAvocat]

05:45 AM on 03/17/2011

If you are talking depression here as being the sole reason an adult (albeit male or female) spanks their children, I think that's abuse and unrelated to disciplining a child.

Spanking isn't bad. Sometimes you cannot just sit down and talk to some of these out of control children or on they go to repeat the behavior. Spanking gets their attention and puts a much bigger emphasis on the need for change. I grew up being spanked but not abused physically. Big difference. I've never seen so many completely out of control children as I have in the last decade. I strongly feel society is too permissive offering no reason to be good and no consequences when you aren't. Both need to be reinforced.

[alongst]

02:05 AM on 03/16/2011

If this were about women, you'd be blaming the men.

[Richcrafter]

08:36 PM on 03/14/2011

My father has five children and has had six step children. This may explain his secure sociopathic tendency to inflict pain. Now a grandchild? God save us.

[Judson Wallace]

07:47 PM on 03/14/2011

If you are "spanking" from depression... its not "spanking" ... its just hitting your kids violently.

[Forestwildcat]

06:35 PM on 03/14/2011

Smart dads spank = Their wives and kids

[spytheweb]

05:17 PM on 03/14/2011

I have never spanked my kids. Boy when i was young i was spanked my share. I knew even then that there was a better way. If my parents told me to go to my room or i couldn't go outside that was more effective. Most parents who were spanked by their parents know no other way. Break the chain. My sons are 26 and 24 years old, no police records, no drugs, no children. The oldest is a film editor in NYC and the baby works in the medical field in the Air Force. One more thing, if i was not at work, i was with my kids. I was a single (black male) parent since they were 8 & 6.

[Judson Wallace]

07:49 PM on 03/14/2011

I like hearing stories about families that choose to use other means of discipline. I like hearing the success stories.

[fourthestatepost]

08:20 PM on 03/20/2011

Good for you bro, but I couldn't disagree with you more. There is a big difference between spanking and your kid and physically abusing them. The fact that you didn't spank your kids and they turned out the way they did, is a rarity. Kids need to be spanked OCCASIONALLY to keep them from growing up being bad people.

[Bob Hazard]

04:16 PM on 03/14/2011

And sad husbands are more likely to his spouses too. And sad drunks are more likely to hit the guy next to them in the bar.

[jojojo]

04:06 PM on 03/14/2011

And yet it goes unreported here that a British study shows that women commit most child abuse.

For more under-reported facts, go to:

menweb.org

[fourthestatepost]

08:21 PM on 03/20/2011

Oh you poor pathetic oppressed man. BARF

[onwisconsin]

03:35 PM on 03/14/2011

Why on earth would anyone hit a 1 year-old?

Of course, I don't believe in hitting anyone...but a 1 year-old?

[JoliAvocat]

05:47 AM on 03/17/2011

I can't imagine. They wouldn't know why you were spanking him anyway.

[Manderina]

03:26 PM on 03/14/2011

No one should be spanking a one year old. The average one year old weighs 20 pounds and could suffer permanent physical damage from the effects of spanking. They not have the cognitive ability to even understand right versus wrong. Any one year old under that abuse should be removed from their household immediately.

[Judson Wallace]

07:49 PM on 03/14/2011

AMEN!