Paternal depression, father-child atachment

representaton and fathers own atachment representaton

Selina Nath
1*
, Tamsin Ford
2
, Willem Kyken
1
and Lamprini Psychogiou
1
1
University of Exeter, Mood Disorders Centre,
2
University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter UK
Email: sn266@exeter.ac.uk
Depression in fathers is associated with increased emotional
and behavioural problems in children (Ramchandani &
Psychogiou 2009). Fathers with depression are less involved
with their children and report higher levels of father-child
conflict (Kane & Garber, 2004; Paulson et al., 2006).

Literature on maternal depression suggests that children of
depressed mothers are less likely to be securely attached
compared to children of non-depressed mothers. Importantly,
insecure attachment has been linked to internalizing and
externalizing problems in children (Martins and Gaffan 2000;
Fearon, BakermansKranenburg et al. 2010; Groh, Roisman et
al. 2012).

Fathers responsiveness to children and their own a
attachment representation to their parents have been
associated with children's father-child attachment
representations (van Ijzendoorn and De Wolff 1997, Hazen,
McFarland et al. 2011). However, there is a gap in the
literature investigating the association between paternal
depression, fathers attachment representation and father-child
attachment.

There was no signifcant diference in
father-child representaton among
children of depressed and non-
depressed fathers
Theoretcal background
To investigate the association between paternal depression,
childrens father-child attachment representation and fathers
own attachment representation to their parents.
Aim of study
Partcipants
Measures
Procedure
Results
Discussion
The sample consisted of two groups: Fathers with past or
current depression (n=40), and fathers without a history of
depression (n=40). The children were aged 3-7 years old.
There were 17 boys and 23 girls in each group.
Is there a significant difference between depressed and non
-depressed fathers attachment representation to parents?





Is there a significant difference between attachment
representation of depressed and non-depressed fathers?





Is there an association between fathers attachment
representation and childrens father-child attachment
representation?




Key findings
Non-depressed fathers reported having relationships with
their parents which were low in the domains of anxiety and
avoidance, suggesting a secure attachment style. In
contrast, depressed fathers reported higher anxious and
avoidant relationship to their parents suggesting a negative
fearful avoidant attachment to parents. This could influence
their parenting interaction and attachment style with their
child.

However, the results indicated no significant association
between fathers attachment style and children's father-
child attachment representation. There was also no
significant difference in attachment category between
children of depressed and non-depressed fathers.

Future directions
Future studies should examine whether insecure father-child
attachment contributes to adverse child outcomes such as
emotional and behavioural problems and poor emotion
regulation.

It will also be interesting to uncover the factors that predict
insecure father-child attachment.
Key reference
Paternal depression: Major Depressive Disorder during
lifetime was assessed with the Structural Interview for DSM-
IV (SCID; Gorman et al., 2004). The SCID has satisfactory
reliability and validity.

Father-child attachment representation: The Manchester Child
Attachment Story Task (MCAST; Goldwyn et al. 2000; Green
et al. 2000) was used to measure father-child attachment
representation using a dolls house play. Children were
classified as secure or non-secure (insecure avoidant,
insecure ambivalent and disorganised).

Fathers own attachment representation to his parents: The
Close Relationships Questionnaire (CRQ; Fraley, Waller, &
Brennan, 2000) was used to measure fathers global anxious
and avoidant strategies with their own parents.
Participants were seen during home-based and lab-based
visits. Parents were interviewed independently using the SCID
and filled out a pack of questionnaires prior to the home-visit.
Children participated in the MCAST dolls house play that was
administered by trained researchers.

Depressed fathers had signifcantly
higher scores on avoidant and
anxious atachment to their parents
compared to non-depressed fathers

There was no signifcant associaton
between fathers atachment
representaton to his parents and
children's father-child atachment
representaton
Kane, P., & Garber, J. (2004). The relations
among depression in fathers, childrens
psychopathology, and father-child conflict: A
meta-analysis. Clinical psychology review, 24
(3), 399-360