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In the weeks following the birth of a child, both parents are likely to develop depression. Paternity leave, recognized for its benefits on family balance, child development and gender equality, might be one of the keys to preventing this pathology which affects one father and almost two mothers out of ten. Using data from over 10,000 heterosexual couples participating in the Elfe Cohort Study[1], a team of researchers from Inserm and Sorbonne University at the Pierre-Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health investigated the impact of two weeks of paternity leave on the risk of post-natal depression. partum in each parent. If the results show that fathers who have taken or plan to take this leave are less at risk of developing postpartum depression, this risk seems to be increased in mothers whose spouse has taken paternity leave. These works, to be published in Lancet Public Health, support the importance of family policies targeted at fathers and question the modalities of paternity leave beneficial to the mental health of both members of the couple.
Postpartum depression is a common phenomenon among new parents: in healthy people, 17% of mothers and more than 10% of fathers are likely to develop it within a year of the birth of their child. For some parents, the occurrence of a depressive episode at this crucial period in terms of family and social life foreshadows the onset of depressive disorders that can persist over time.
Following the European Union’s directive on work-life balance in 2019, the European Parliament encouraged policies promoting the equal sharing of parenting and domestic tasks between mothers and fathers. Paid paternity leave is seen as one of the policies likely to meet this objective and studies have already shown that it is associated with increased participation of fathers in household chores and in the education of children, that it improves the dynamic family and relational and that it had positive consequences on the emotional, psychological and social development of the child. In addition, studies have shown that, among new parents, feeling socially supported and declaring themselves generally satisfied with their relationship were associated with a reduced risk of postpartum depression.
To consolidate existing data, a research team led by Maria Melchior, Inserm Research Director at the Pierre-Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health (Inserm/Sorbonne University), sought to observe the impact of taking two weeks of paternity leave (paid and without risk of job loss)[2] on both parents’ risk of developing depression two months following the birth of their child.
For this, the researchers used data from the Elfe cohort study, which includes more than 13,000 French mothers and nearly 11,000 fathers whose children were born in 2011.
Each participating couple indicated whether the father had taken or intended to take paternity leave[3]. Two months following the birth of the child, the participants completed a questionnaire to assess whether they were suffering from depression. Their responses were analyzed taking into account a number of socio-economic (employment-related) and health characteristics of families, likely to influence the use of paternity leave.
At 2 months, more than 64% of fathers had already taken paternity leave, 17% declared that they intended to take one and nearly 19% had not taken any and did not plan to take any. 4.5% of fathers who took paternity leave and 4.8% of those intending to use it had postpartum depression compared to 5.7% of those who did not use it.
However, an opposite trend was observed among mothers: 16.1% of mothers whose partner used paternity leave had postpartum depression compared to 15.1% of those whose partner intended to use paternity leave. paternity leave, and 15.3% of those whose partner had not taken paternity leave.
Thus, if taking or planning to take 2 weeks of paternity leave is associated in fathers with a reduced risk of postpartum depression, in mothers, taking paternity leave by the spouse does not seem to have a beneficial effect. significant.
« In addition to the advantages that paternity leave can confer in terms of family dynamics and child development, it might therefore also have positive effects in terms of the mental health of fathers, comments Katharine Barry, Inserm doctoral student at Sorbonne University and first author of these works. On the other hand, the negative association observed in the mothers might suggest that a duration of 2 weeks of paternity leave is, on the contrary, not sufficient to prevent postpartum depression in the mothers. »
According to the scientists, this negative association in mothers might be due to the unequal distribution of time allocated to childcare and/or to a selection bias.
« Indeed, although we took into account many possible confounding factors, we might not sufficiently assess the pre-existence of depressive disorders apart from another pregnancy in the mothers. It is thus possible that fathers whose partner is more at risk of depression take paternity leave more willingly, says Maria Melchior. Our results, however, underscore the importance of father-targeted family policies for parental mental health, continues the researcher, because they can advance gender equality in the labor market and increase the participation of fathers in the family sphere. »
Future research should therefore examine the impact that the duration and timing of paternity leave can have on the mental health of parents and on the development of children, including since the extension of the period of this leave in 2021.
[1] The French Longitudinal Study from Childhood (Elfe) is a French national cohort of children followed from birth to adulthood to study family, economic and socio-cultural factors that may influence children’s development.
[2] Or the average duration of paternity leave in OECD countries in 2021. In France, paternity leave was created in 2002, and extended in 2021 from 11 to 25 consecutive days.
[3] In this study, participating fathers had up to 4 months following the birth of their child to take paternity leave.
