Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Survey study reveals that social support reduces parenting stress through lower depressive symptoms in fathers of young children, highlighting the value of strong interpersonal networks.
Parental depressive symptoms are positively correlated with levels of parenting stress. Greater parenting stress predicts negative outcomes for both parents and children, and worse family functioning. Social support is a key protective factor against depressive symptoms; however, minimal research has examined the relationship between social support, paternal depressive symptoms, and parenting stress among fathers. Seventy-nine fathers of children, aged 2-6 years old, completed an online survey. Mediation analyses, using Hayes' PROCESS macro, determined significant indirect effects of social support on parenting stress through paternal depressive symptoms. Our findings elucidate the need for social support from family, friends, and significant others to improve depressive symptomology and parenting stress among fathers. We encourage fathers to seek support from friends, family, and their partners, to benefit their mental health and the family unit. Clinicians working with fathers should be aware of the possibility of co-occurring problems related to these factors.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Hogan et al. (2025) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: