ABSTRACT

Objective: Maternal postpartum depression (PPD) may influence fathers’ engagement in childrearing; however, empirical studies have been equivocal as to whether these effects emerge in a compensatory (i.e., higher paternal engagement) or spillover (i.e., lower paternal engagement) manner. This study evaluated fathers’ gender role attitudes as a moderator that shapes the association between maternal PPD and fathers’ engagement during infancy, and also examined relations between father engagement and children’s subsequent behavior problems.

Method: In a prospective study of low-income, Mexican-origin families (N = 181 mothers and a subset of their partners, N = 92 fathers), maternal PPD symptoms and fathers’ gender role attitudes were measured at 15-weeks postpartum, father engagement was measured at 21-weeks, and children’s behavior problems were measured at 12 and 18 months.

Results: Higher maternal PPD symptoms were associated with lower father engagement and more child behavior problems when fathers endorsed more segregated gender role attitudes; however, this relation was not significant when fathers endorsed less segregated, more contemporary gender role attitudes. A mediational chain was evident, wherein the interaction of maternal PPD and fathers’ gender role attitudes predicted paternal engagement, and lower paternal engagement subsequently predicted more child behavior problems at 12 months, which predicted more child behavior problems at 18 months.

Conclusions: Results suggest the effects of maternal PPD on children’s behavior problems may operate via paternal engagement, which is affected by fathers’ traditional gender role attitudes. The study highlights the importance of examining fathering and children’s behavior using a cultural-contextual lens among underrepresented ethnic minority families.

摘要

目的：产妇产后抑郁症（PPD）可能会影响父亲参与育儿的活动；然而，关于这些影响是以补偿性（即较高的父亲参与度）还是溢出（即较低的父亲参与度）方式出现的经验研究一直是模棱两可的。这项研究评估了父亲的性别角色态度作为主持人，该态度塑造了孕产妇PPD和婴儿期父亲参与度之间的关联，还研究了父亲参与度与孩子随后的行为问题之间的关系。

方法：在一项针对墨西哥低收入家庭的前瞻性研究中（N = 181个母亲及其一部分伴侣，N = 92个父亲），在产后15周测量了母亲的PPD症状和父亲的性别角色态度，父亲的参与度是在21周时测得的，而孩子的行为问题是在12和18个月时测得的。

结果：当父亲认可更独立的性别角色态度时，较高的母亲PPD症状与较低的父亲参与度和更多的儿童行为问题相关；但是，当父亲们认可了分离度较低，更具现代性的性别角色态度时，这种关系并不重要。中介链是显而易见的，其中母亲PPD和父亲的性别角色态度的相互作用预示着父亲的参与，而较低的父亲参与随后预示了12个月时更多的儿童行为问题，这预示了18个月时更多的儿童行为问题。

结论：结果表明，母亲PPD对孩子行为问题的影响可能是通过父亲的参与而起作用的，这受父亲传统的性别角色态度影响。该研究强调了在代表性不足的少数族裔家庭中，使用文化背景的镜头来检验父亲和孩子的行为的重要性。