Boyce Philip, Condon John, Barton Jodi, Corkindale Carolyn
Department of Psychiatry, Westmead Hospital, Wentworthville, NSW, Australia.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2007 Sep;41(9):718-25. doi: 10.1080/00048670701517959.
High levels of distress have previously been reported among expectant fathers, with the level of distress for new fathers falling after the birth and during the first year of their infants' lives. The aim of the present study was to report on the associations with the fathers' initial high levels of distress.
The men completed a series of questionnaires on various aspects of their psychological functioning at a baseline assessment when their partners were in the late first trimester of their pregnancy. The General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) was the key measure of psychological distress for the present study. Men scoring >5 on the GHQ were considered to be cases of distress. The cases and non-cases were contrasted on the baseline psychosocial measures.
A total of 312 men completed the questionnaires, of whom 18.6% were designated as cases. GHQ caseness was associated with high levels of symptoms on other measures of psychological distress, higher levels of alcohol consumption, poorer quality of their current intimate relationship, poorer social support, a lower quality of life, high levels of neuroticism and the use of immature ego defences. Multiple regression analysis identified the key variables associated with psychological distress to be high levels of neuroticism, dissatisfaction with social support and an excess number of additional life events.
Psychological distress among expectant fathers is associated with a range of psychological variables, particularly poor marital relationship and poor social networks. This is consistent with a general vulnerability model for psychological distress. Fathers who had insufficient information about pregnancy and childbirth were also at risk of being distressed, suggesting that more attention needs to be paid to providing information to men about their partner's pregnancy, childbirth and issues relating to caring for a newborn infant.
此前有报道称，准父亲中存在高度的困扰，而新父亲的困扰程度在婴儿出生后及婴儿生命的第一年有所下降。本研究的目的是报告与父亲最初高度困扰相关的因素。
在伴侣处于妊娠晚期的首次基线评估时，男性完成了一系列关于其心理功能各个方面的问卷。一般健康问卷-28（GHQ-28）是本研究中心理困扰的关键测量指标。在GHQ上得分>5的男性被视为困扰案例。对案例组和非案例组在基线心理社会测量指标上进行对比。
共有312名男性完成了问卷，其中18.6%被认定为案例。GHQ案例与其他心理困扰测量指标上的高症状水平、更高的酒精消费量、当前亲密关系质量较差、社会支持较差、生活质量较低、高神经质水平以及使用不成熟的自我防御机制相关。多元回归分析确定与心理困扰相关的关键变量为高神经质水平、对社会支持的不满以及额外生活事件数量过多。
准父亲的心理困扰与一系列心理变量相关，尤其是不良的婚姻关系和不良的社会网络。这与心理困扰的一般易感性模型一致。对怀孕和分娩信息了解不足的父亲也有困扰的风险，这表明需要更多关注向男性提供有关其伴侣怀孕、分娩以及与照顾新生儿相关问题的信息。
