a Healthy Mothers Healthy Families Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute , Parkville , Australia.
b Department of Paediatrics , The University of Melbourne , Parkville , Australia.
J Reprod Infant Psychol. 2018 Sep;36(4):421-433. doi: 10.1080/02646838.2018.1472750. Epub 2018 Jun 27.
Approximately one in 10 fathers experience mental health difficulties in the early years of parenting, yet there is a dearth of evidence-based interventions to promote fathers' mental health at this time. Therefore, the aims of this study were: (1) to obtain preliminary data on the short-term changes in mental health symptoms and parenting self-efficacy for fathers of young children (aged 0-4 years) participating in Working Out Dads (WOD) and (2) to explore fathers' experiences of participation in WOD.
The sample consisted of 57 fathers who had at least one child aged between 0 and 4 years. Participants completed pre- and post- measures to assess the severity of depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms and parenting self-efficacy. A brief survey of fathers' experiences in WOD was also completed.
There was a significant reduction in fathers' reports of depressive and stress symptoms from pre- to post-intervention, and no significant change in anxiety symptoms. Parenting self-efficacy significantly increased from pre- to post-intervention. All changes were associated with moderate to large effect sizes. Fathers indicated that they were satisfied with the programme and that they were more confident in managing the stress of parenting and in their overall role as a father.
This is the first study to evaluate WOD and provides promising preliminary evidence for its short-term effects on fathers' mental health and parenting self-efficacy. Pilot results are positive and are a critical first step, informing the design of a more robust evaluation in the future.
大约十分之一的父亲在育儿的早期会经历心理健康问题，但目前缺乏促进父亲心理健康的循证干预措施。因此，本研究的目的是：（1）获得参与“锻炼爸爸”（WOD）的幼儿（0-4 岁）的父亲心理健康症状和育儿自我效能感的短期变化的初步数据；（2）探索父亲参与 WOD 的体验。
样本包括 57 名至少有一名 0-4 岁儿童的父亲。参与者完成了预测试和后测试，以评估抑郁、焦虑和压力症状的严重程度以及育儿自我效能感。还对父亲在 WOD 中的体验进行了简短的调查。
从干预前到干预后，父亲报告的抑郁和压力症状显著减少，焦虑症状没有显著变化。育儿自我效能感从干预前到干预后显著增加。所有变化都与中到大的效应量相关。父亲表示对该计划感到满意，他们对管理育儿压力以及整体父亲角色更有信心。
这是第一项评估 WOD 的研究，为其对父亲心理健康和育儿自我效能感的短期影响提供了有希望的初步证据。初步结果是积极的，是未来更稳健评估的关键第一步。
