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Journal Article Mental and physical health problems are common during early fatherhood. The current study aimed to assess a broad range of mental, physical, and social outcomes for fathers of young children (aged 0–4 years) participating in a pilot evaluation of ‘Working Out Dads’ (WOD). These results were complemented by a nested qualitative study capturing the perceived outcomes for fathers. The sample consisted of 53 fathers who completed pre-, post-, and 3-month follow-up measures. There were significant reductions in psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and stress from pre- to post-…
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Journal Article A growing body of research indicates that fathers play a key role in influencing child eating behaviors. This systematic review identifies and summarizes current research concerning the influence of fathers on the feeding behaviors of their children. Outcomes specific to child health, development of eating habits, relationships between paternal weight and child weight, and paternal dietary habits and child dietary habits were specifically targeted.
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Journal Article Research highlights the need for ongoing social support of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Despite recognized differences between mothers and fathers, little is known about the particular social support needs of fathers of children with ASD. Broadly, this study aimed to explore the support needs of fathers of children with ASD compared with fathers of children without a disability (W/OD) and the relation between social support, psychological distress, and sociodemographic factors. Drawing from a large, nationally representative community sample of children, 159…
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Journal Article The aim of this systematic review was to identify and synthesize the best available evidence on first time fathers’ experiences and needs in relation to their mental health and wellbeing during their transition to fatherhood. A three-step search strategy was used. The search strategy explored published and unpublished qualitative studies from 1960 to September 2017. All included studies were assessed by two independent reviewers and any disagreements were resolved by consensus or with a third reviewer. The recommended Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) approach to critical appraisal, study…
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Journal Article Panic attacks bring on intense fear or discomfort which can reach its peak within minutes. Specifically, symptoms of losing control, going crazy, or dying are very disconcerting and often cause people to seek help in the middle of the night. In Angelo’s case, the episodes of panic related to the arrival of the baby were completely unexpected. Also, having not been diagnosed with these episodes when he lived in Nicaragua, their appearance in his early 30s came as a complete shock. Another symptom that was unexplainable was feelings of dizziness and numbness and tingling. A few times, he…
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Journal Article Numerous studies have shown that children's temperamental characteristics impact the quality and quantity of parent–child interactions. However, these studies have largely focused on middle‐class samples, have not compared multiple domains of parenting across mothers and fathers, and have not considered the possibility of nonlinear associations between temperament and parenting. The present study addresses these gaps by examining the potentially nonlinear role of two temperamental characteristics—negative emotionality and sociability—in predicting the quality and quantity of low‐income…
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Journal Article Literature in developmental psychology suggests that mothers and fathers both play unique and important roles in their children’s development. However, research investigating the unique contributions and psychological functioning of fathers of youth with developmental disabilities, and the role that fathers play in effective intervention, remains limited. Whereas evidence suggests that parent-mediated interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can lead to increased engagement from parents, and reduced stress and psychopathology commonly experienced by parents of youth with…
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Journal Article Recent studies show that paternal depression negatively impacts children's behavioral and emotional development. This study determined the prevalence of depressed mood in first-time fathers at 2 and 6 months postpartum and identified associated risk factors. A prospective cohort study with 622 men who completed sociodemographic and psychosocial questionnaires during their partner's third trimester of pregnancy. Fathers completed measures again at 2 and 6 months postpartum and partners completed the depressed mood measure at all three timepoints. A cutoff of ≥10 for the Edinburgh Postnatal…
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Journal Article Despite high heritability, no research has followed children with ADHD to parenthood to study their offspring and parenting behaviors. Given greater prevalence of ADHD in males and lack of research involving fathers, this study evaluated offspring of fathers with and without ADHD histories for ADHD and disruptive behavior and compared fathers’ parenting behaviors. Male fathers (N = 29) from the Pittsburgh ADHD Longitudinal Study (PALS) participated with their preschool-aged offspring. Fathers completed self-reported measures, and father-child dyads completed an interaction task. ADHD…
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Journal Article Lower baseline testosterone (T) among men is generally associated with more sympathetic and nurturant responses to infant stimuli. The effect of exposure to infant crying on men’s levels of T, however, is not well understood. The present study aimed to measure men’s T responses to high and low levels of infant crying. Changes in fathers’ (n = 18) and non-fathers’ (n = 28) salivary T levels from baseline were measured in response to caring for an infant simulator programmed to cry often (high-demand condition) or infrequently (low-demand condition) during a 20-min caregiving simulation. Men…
