Relationship between paternal depression and marital harmony in perinatal period

Background and Aim: Perinatal period defines the period between the 20th week of pregnancy and postnatal first 28 days. Several studies have been performed on maternal perinatal depression in recent years. This condition may be related to the complicated interaction between depression, pregnancy and infant. Perinatal period is a risky period for the father in terms of mental problems as much as the mother. In this study, our aim was to investigate the relationship between marital harmony and perinatal period paternal depression and to emphasize the role of family physician perinatal period does not causing emotional changes not only for the mother but for in fathers as well. Material and Method: Husbands of the pregnant women admitting to the Gynecology and Obstetrics Outpatient Clinic of the two hospitals (Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Balcalı Hospital and Adana Metro Hospital) between February 1 and June 1 in 2017 and the fathers of neonates admitting to Neonatal Outpatient Clinic of two hospitals (Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Balcalı Hospital and Metro Hospital) formed the sampling of the research. Sociodemographic data form, Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale and Marital Harmony Scale were used. Data were installed in SPSS program and chi-square test was used for significance tests. Statistical significance was accepted as p<0.05. Results: A total of 234 individuals were included in the research. Mean age of the participants was 32.26±5.4 (20-53) years. Based on the education levels of the participants, 16 were graduated from elementary school (6.8%), 25 (10.7%) secondary school, 90 (38.5%) high school, 89 (38.0%) university and 14 (6.0%) were post graduates. Cutt-off tag Marital Harmony Scale was accepted as 43. We detected 39 (16.7%) incompatible and 195 (83.3%) compatible individuals. According to Edinbugh Postpartum Scale, we detected paternal perinatal depression in 30 out of 234 participants in our study. Marital harmony and depression were compared, 177 out of 204 (86.8%) individuals without depresssion were compatible while 27 (13.2%) were incompatible. While 12 out of 30 individuals(%40.0) with prevalence paternal perinatal depression were incompatible, 18 (60.0%) were compatible. Poor marital harmony in individuals with paternal perinatal depression was significantly increased compared to individuals without paternal depression. (p<0.001). Conclusion: Perinatal period is a time when parents need more social support. As family physicians, we have to be aware of paternal perinatal depression. Keywords: Male Health, Marital Harmony, Paternal Perinatal Depression, Family Medicine