Citation

Fogarty A, McMahon G, Findley H, Hosking C, Schulz M, Seymour M, Leach L, Borschmann R, Garfield CF, Giallo R. Aust. N. Zeal. J. Psychiatry 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/00048674241267896

PMID

39118251

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Suicide is a leading cause of death in males aged 25-44 years, an age which often coincides with becoming a father. This review aims to synthesise the evidence of the prevalence of suicidal and self-harm ideation in fathers during the perinatal, postnatal and early parenting period.

METHODS: Five databases were searched (PsycINFO, Medline, Web of Science, PubMed and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) to identify papers published between 1 January 2000 and 9 March 2023. A meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the prevalence of suicidality and self-harm ideation across the included studies. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore potential sources of heterogeneity.

RESULTS: A total of 4215 articles were identified, with 14 studies included in the review. The combined pooled prevalence of suicidal and self-harm ideation was 4.2% (95% CI [2.6%, 6.2%]). Prevalence estimates were higher for self-harm ideation at 5.1% (95% CI [2.6%, 6.2%]) than for suicidality at 3% (95% CI [0.9%, 6.1%]).

CONCLUSIONS: This review found that a considerable proportion of fathers experience suicidal and self-harm ideation during the early years of parenting. However, the paucity of rigorous prevalence studies indicates that further research in this area is needed urgently.

Language: en

Keywords

suicidality; Self-harm; father; parenthood; perinatal; postnatal