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Science Blog

Submitted by BJS on Mon, 2004-08-02 15:36. Topic: brain and behavior

Healthy dad can shield kids from mentally unhealthy mom

A new study points to the important role fathers play in their
children's emotional and behavioral health. The study shows that a
father in good mental health can substantially reduce the negative
influence of a mother's poor mental health on a child's behavioral and
emotional well-being. ''If a mother and father are depressed, the odds
that a child will have behavioral or emotional problems go up
eight-fold,'

' according to Robert S. Kahn, M.D., M.P.H., a
physician/researcher in the Division of General and Community
Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's and the study's lead author. ''The
risk is less elevated if only the mother reported poorer mental health
and not elevated at all if only the father reported poorer mental
health.''From Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center : Study
shows impact of emotionally healthy fathers when mothers' poor mental
health affects children

A new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
<http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/> study points to the important
role fathers play in their children's emotional and behavioral health.

The study shows that a father in good mental health can substantially
reduce the negative influence of a mother's poor mental health on a
child's behavioral and emotional well-being.

''If a mother and father are depressed, the odds that a child will
have behavioral or emotional problems go up eight-fold,'' according to
Robert S. Kahn, M.D., M.P.H., a physician/researcher in the Division
of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's and the
study's lead author. ''The risk is less elevated if only the mother
reported poorer mental health and not elevated at all if only the
father reported poorer mental health.''

The study, published in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics and
Adolescent Medicine, is one of the first and largest studies to
examine the joint effects of mothers' and fathers' mental health
symptoms.

The researchers examined data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics
- a national, longitudinal survey of families of 822 children between
the ages of 3 and 12 who were living with both parents. The survey
included a validated screen for serious adult mental illness,
including depression and anxiety disorders. Parents with scores in the
upper 25 percent were considered to be in poorer mental health.

The researchers also found that when a mother and father have poor
mental health, the influence on a child's behavioral problems is
particularly strong for boys.

''Many studies have shown that poor maternal mental health has
negative impacts on their children's behavior and emotional health,''
according to Robert C. Whitaker, M.D., study co-author who is formerly
of Cincinnati Children's and is currently a senior fellow at
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. ''Rarely have studies used
information about the mental health of both parents to assess outcomes
in their children. This study suggests that what happens to a child's
children's well-being when their mothers suffer mental health problems
depends on whether the father is healthy.'