The DOI matches its Crossref record; 124 of the 127 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Effects of paternal depression on fathers' parenting behaviors: A meta-analytic review
Abstract
One possible mechanism for the familial transmission of depression is through its negative effects on parenting and the parent-child relationship. Although previous research indicates that depression is associated with parenting impairment for mothers, no quantitative synthesis of the empirical literature on the effects of paternal depression on fathers' parenting has been conducted. The present meta-analysis examined the effects of paternal depression on fathers' positive and negative parenting behaviors. The mean effect sizes, computed using 40 independent effect sizes derived from 28 published and unpublished studies, indicated that paternal depression has significant, though small, effects on parenting, with depressed fathers demonstrating decreased positive and increased negative parenting behaviors. Several moderating effects were found, including child and father age, and sample race/ethnicity, and effects were comparable for studies that used self-report measures and observational methods to assess fathers' parenting behaviors. Moreover, effect sizes for the relationship between paternal depression and fathers' parenting behaviors were comparable to those found for mothers. The present findings indicate that paternal depression has a significant and deleterious effect on parenting behaviors by fathers, and speak to the importance of continuing to include fathers in research on child development and the family environment.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“A number of studies have documented significant associations of both maternal55 and paternal56 depression with negative parenting behaviors. These associations are found throughout the age range of children, but most pronounced for the parents of young children. Although only an incomplete understanding exists of pathways, both laboratory and naturalistic studies of parent-infant micro-interact”
From The Costs of Depression (2012) · cites this paper as [55]
In the citing paper
“Consistent with this model, father interaction and father noninvolvement are both associated with child internalizing and externalizing behaviours (Wilson & Durbin, 2010)”
From The effects of paternal depression on child and adolescent outcomes: A systematic review (2016) · cites this paper as Wilson & Durbin, 2010
In the citing paper
“Depression was associated with 5·1% of all days out of role, the fourth highest population attributable risk proportion of all the disorders considered (exceeded only by headache/migraine, other chronic pain conditions, and cardiovascular disorders) and by far the largest among the mental disorders.”
From Time for united action on depression: a Lancet–World Psychiatric Association Commission (2022) · cites this paper as [221]
In the citing paper
“Depression is also associated with the highest number of days out of role at the societal level of any physical or mental disorder.”
From Time for united action on depression: a Lancet–World Psychiatric Association Commission (2022) · cites this paper as [221]
In the citing paper
“These parental mental health difficulties may lead to negative parenting behaviours related to nurturing and monitoring, decreased attention to a child's needs and more significant dysfunction within the home [27,28].”
From A Qualitative Study of Child and Adolescent Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ireland (2021) · cites this paper as [28]
Citations
Cites
Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
Muller, K. E., & Cohen, J. (1989) · Technometrics · doi:10.2307/1270020 · Cited by 99,603
Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences
Cohen, J. (1990) · Computers Environment and Urban Systems · doi:10.1016/0198-9715(90)90050-4 · Cited by 65,417
The CES-D Scale: A Self-Report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population
Radloff, L. S. (1977) · Applied Psychological Measurement · doi:10.1177/014662167700100306 · Cited by 53,267
An inventory for measuring depression
BECK, A. T. (1961) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004 · Cited by 38,032
Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.).
Lachenbruch, P. A., & Cohen, J. (1989) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.2307/2290095 · Cited by 37,421
Detection of Postnatal Depression: Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale
Cox, J. L., Holden, J. M., & Sagovsky, R. (1987) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.150.6.782 · Cited by 14,183
Duval, S., & Tweedie, R. (2000) · Biometrics · doi:10.1111/j.0006-341x.2000.00455.x · Cited by 14,099
Wasserman, S. S., Hedges, L. V., & Olkin, I. (1988) · Journal of Educational Statistics · doi:10.2307/1164953 · Cited by 10,377
(2000) · Cited by 9,198
Influence of life stress on depression: moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene
Caspi, A., Sugden, K., Moffitt, T. E., Taylor, A., Craig, I. W., Harrington, H., McClay, J., Mill, J., Martin, J., Braithwaite, A., et al. (2003) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1083968 · Cited by 8,120
Research works printed but not linked: 7
- Belsky, 2002, Parenting and personality, Vol. 3, 415
- Devall, E. L. (1990). The relation of marital satisfaction to parental functioning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
- Fielding, E. D. (2004). Depression and family interactions: Depressed parents and their 4-year-olds in dyads and triads. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA.
- Formoso, D. (2002). Gateways to fathering: Predictors of paternal parenting in a low-income, Mexican American sample. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
- MacMartin, L. M. (1997). Child adjustment difficulties and maternal depressive symptoms: The father's role. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- Parke, 2006, Socialization in the family: Ecological and ethnic perspectives, Vol. 3, 429
- Slater, 1987, Multidimensional assessment of parenting in single-parent families, Advances in Family Intervention: Assessment and Theory, 4, 197
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 601–604 of 604
Forster, M., Åström, T., Martinsson, M., & van Leuven, L. (2026) · Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal · doi:10.1007/s10560-026-01180-9
Chen, H., Feng, Y., Chong, E. S. K., & Kim, S. Y. (2026) · Adolescent Research Review · doi:10.1007/s40894-026-00294-6
wu, H., Gao, Y., Lai, Y., & zhang, L. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10841747/v1
Messina, L. A. (2015) · University Libraries (University of Maryland) · doi:10.13016/m2933m
Metadata
- Authors
- Wilson, S., & Durbin, C. E.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wilson, Sylia
- Venue
- Clinical Psychology Review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-03
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 167-180
- ISSN
- 0272-7358 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2119124347
- Cited by
- 603
- References
- 127
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 66 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 51 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 2.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- paternal depression, positive parenting, negative parenting, parent-child relationship, child age, race and ethnicity, family environment
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, Depressive Disorder, Father-Child Relations, Fathers, Female, Humans, Male, Social Environment, Parenting
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
