A new study from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in collaboration with researchers in Pakistan has demonstrated the effectiveness of an integrated psychosocial intervention aimed at improving parenting skills and symptoms of depression in fathers. This low-cost and scalable program is making strides in addressing the stigma and lack of support around male postpartum depression, a crucial yet often overlooked issue. The intervention not only helped fathers manage their mental health but also strengthened parent-child relationships and promoted positive child development outcomes. Postpartum depression and mental health are important topics that have significant impacts on families and communities.
Breaking the Silence
For years, male mental health and specifically postpartum depression in men has been a much stigmatized and under researched area. Traditionally, we have focused on treatment for postpartum mothers (as we should) but this is leaving men unsupported while revealing some of the enormous emotional and mental toll that becoming a parent places on fathers.
That would only account to about 10% of affected fathers, which on a global scale, isnt very many and in societies such as Pakistan or Russian it could be almost double at 23.5%. This shocking statistic highlights the pressing requirement for when it comes to addressing this, making mental health resources for fathers more available.
A Promising Solution
A groundbreaking intervention aimed at treating male postpartum depression in Pakistan has been shown to be effective, report researchers who designed the intervention and were its first implementers. LTP+Dads is a four-month trial of a parenting and mental health program that provides cognitive behavioral therapy for depression with life skills training in topics such as time management and emotional regulation.
Fathers in the intervention were given calendars that included child development stages and activities for father-engaged care. The participants had 12 group sessions (weekly during the first two months, then bi-weekly) with community health workers and psychologists as well. In Pakistan, a cluster randomized clinical trial with 357 low-income fathers from Daddo Talian (Lazy Dads) family support program has found some striking results.
Profound Impacts on Families
The study revealed that the LTP + Dads intervention produced remission from depression for 73% of fathers with postpartum depression over a four-month period, both in terms of symptoms and related social functional problems as measured by PHQ-9 and IHS Total scores respectively, which was substantially above rates we have observed through regular clinical practice (13). In addition to increases in the well-being of fathers who completed NFI’s program, relationships with their children and partners improved.
Perhaps most importantly in the study were enhancements in reductions on intimate partner violence. At the end of treatment, fathers in the intervention group had lower scores for perpetrated intimate partner violence compared with those who received standard care. Such findings are evidence that the LTP + Dads intervention can decrease the propensity for such violent behaviors in Pakistani PPND dads, which can result in a positive family climate overall.
Dr. Husain thinks this model could enjoy similar success in all environments, including Canada, a place where there are also cultural and social norms and pressures inhibiting men from reaching out for mental health help. “Patterns in male postpartum depression are probably similar across Canada — which obviously is a cultural melting pot,” he says. Some have speculated that stigma, cultural beliefs and the “huge need for mental health services combined with scarce resources” likely all contribute to why dads shy away from getting help. We know from the data that in order to do that LTP + Dads might be the game-changer men need during their transition to fatherhood by providing a low-barrier entry point for emotional support and learning.
