Purpose: Examine father’s emotional response during a subsequent pregnancy after previous perinatal loss as well as after the birth of a healthy baby in comparison to fathers in their first pregnancy.
Design: Two group pretest/post-test comparative design.
Participants: Twelve expectant fathers with a history of perinatal loss, and 11 expectant fathers in their first pregnancy.
Method: Structured questionnaires administered via phone interviews.
Questionnaires: The following were used to measure: Depressive symptoms (CES-D; Radloff, 1977); Current distress related to a specific event (IES; Harowitz, 1997); Pregnancy-specific anxiety (POQ; Theut et al., 1988); Generalized anxiety (STAI; Spielberger et al., 1984); Quality of primary intimate relationships (ARI; Schaufer & Edgerton, 1982; Hall & Kiernan, 1992).
Findings: The study is on-going with results expected in the Spring 2005.
Clinical Implications: Pregnancies following perinatal loss can be powerful stressors for expectant fathers. They frequently feel apprehension about the outcome of a subsequent pregnancy that may lead to significant and prolonged levels of depressive symptoms and anxiety. It is unclear the duration of psychological distress after the birth of a healthy infant, or other long-term consequences of a history of perinatal loss on father’s developing attitudes toward themselves as parents and their concerns about the well-being of their new infant.
Session #1222 - Undergraduate Submissions
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)