Pilot Randomized Trial of Together in Parenting, a Novel Digital Paternal Mental Health Intervention, For Fathers With Anxiety or Depression
Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
Summary
Postpartum depression (PPD) occurs almost as often among men as it does among women. However, while there have been multiple programs designed to prevent maternal PPD, few, if any, interventions exist that have been created specifically to prevent paternal PPD. After engaging in evidence-based qualitative research with soon-to-be or new fathers, a novel interpersonal-therapy based digital program was created to prevent paternal PPD called Together in Parenting (TIP), which comprises multiple podcasts and digital educational handouts. While screening for eligibility for an ongoing pilot feasibility trial (NCT07594743), 20% of those were ineligible because they either endorsed having depression or anxiety or screened positive on psychometric surveys for having moderate symptoms of these conditions. TThe proposed pilot study will examine the feasibility and acceptability of using TIP as an intervention for fathers who have mental health symptoms, and will generate preliminary estimates of effect of the intervention to support a future efficacy study.
Description
Postpartum depression (PPD) PPD affects 8-10% of men, and paternal anxiety affects up to 15% of men. Paternal mental health symptoms are often underdiagnosed and undertreated. It is hard to identify fathers who have mental health symptoms due to cultural conceptions of masculinity, leading to the risk that fathers do not recognize their symptoms as mental health symptoms and engage in avoidant or numbing behavior instead of appropriate treatment. Even if they recognize their mental health symptoms, men are less likely than women to pursue help due to the stigma of mental health care, resulting…