B4381 - The Effects of Pre- and Postnatal Exposure to Paternal Anxiety on their Offspring - 31/07/2023

B number: 
B4381
Principal applicant name: 
Peter J. Lawrence | University of Southampton (UK)
Co-applicants: 
Francesca Zecchinato, MSc, Jana Kreppner, Dr
Title of project: 
The Effects of Pre- and Postnatal Exposure to Paternal Anxiety on their Offspring
Proposal summary: 

Anxiety disorders (AD) are the most prevalent psychiatric condition in the general population worldwide, and it is estimated that between 6.57 and 13.54% of new fathers suffer from an AD (Leiferman et al., 2021), a considerably higher proportion than the prevalence for anxiety in men generally estimated by the World Health Organization (World Health Organization, 2017; range between 2.2β€‰βˆ’β€‰3.8%). The mental health of children is robustly associated with the mental health of their parents (Jami et al., 2021). In particular, children whose parents suffer from ADs, compared to children whose parents do not, have a higher risk of struggling with their mental health (e.g., Connell & Goodman, 2002; Micco et al., 2009; Lawrence et al., 2019). However, the specific role played by fathers in children's mental health difficulties has been under-investigated, and the particular risk posed by paternal anxiety for offspring mental health difficulties is not well understood.

Impact of research: 
This research will add to the existing literature on the father-specific contribution to the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology and will help disentangle direct (e.g., post-natal) from latent (e.g., pre-natal) effects of paternal anxiety on the development of their offspring.
Date proposal received: 
Tuesday, 25 July, 2023
Date proposal approved: 
Monday, 31 July, 2023
Keywords: 
Mental health - Psychology, Psychiatry, Cognition, Mental health, Statistical methods, Parenting