The prevalence and relevant factors of paternal depression during a partners pregnancy in Japan

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of paternal depression and the relevant factors associated with paternal depression, mainly focusing on occupational stress. The present study was focused on paternal depression during their partners’ pregnancy as the first part of longitudinal studies. The participants were fathers whose partners were in the third trimester of their pregnancies. Items from the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale in Japanese (EPDS-J, cutoff point ≥13), sociodemographic details, major background factors, the marital relationship, occupational stress, and satisfaction were included in the questionnaire for the survey on postnatal depression. Responses were obtained from 494 participants through Macromill, which is a marketing research company with monitors throughout Japan. IBM SPSS® Statistics version 24.0 and EZR was used for statistical analysis, and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. In this study, regarding the prevalence of paternal depression in Japan, 155 out of 494 fathers (31.3 and 95% CI 27.3 - 35.7%) were found to have depressive symptoms. The EPDS score can relate to paternal depressive symptoms during their partners’ pregnancy: No marriage, not living together with a partner (and child), and family bereavement. Regarding specific job stress, the items for which the odds ratio was significant were “heavy responsibility,” “it is not a suitable job for me,” “anxiety of being fired/going bankrupt,” and “distressing relationships at workplace.” As marital relationships, this study identified that the factor referring to EPDS with a significant odds ratio was “not often talk with my wife (partner).” Key words: Paternal depression, prevalence, relevant factors, pregnancy.