OBJECTIVE

Maternal and paternal psychological distress influence children's development and health beyond the perinatal period. The aim of our study was to describe psychological health during a 5-year period in parents of preschool children. Secondarily, we wanted to explore differences between mothers and fathers and identify predictors for increased psychological distress in parents.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study.

SETTING

A county in Southern Norway 1998-2004.

POPULATION

One hundred and twenty-three mothers and 112 fathers were candidates for the follow-up study.

METHODS

Parental psychological responses were assessed using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), State Anxiety Inventory-X1 and Impact of Event Scale at 0-4 days, 6 weeks, 6 months and 5 years after delivery of a healthy child.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Parental psychological distress defined by GHQ-28 Likert sum score at 5-year follow-up.

RESULTS

Clinically important psychological distress (GHQ case score > or = 6) was reported by more mothers (29%) than by fathers (11%) (P = 0.004). In multivariate analysis, psychological distress (GHQ-28 Likert sum score) after 5 years was predicted by initial psychological distress, being single and low educational level in mothers, and unemployment and low quality of relationship with partner in fathers.

CONCLUSIONS

Fathers reported significantly lower frequency of clinically important psychological distress and more stable scores than mothers throughout the period. The results indicate that selected psychometric screening may be warranted for parents with known psychosocial risk factors.