--- title: "Psych News Alert: Children Are Affected by Depressed Dads" description: Children who live with their depressed fathers are more likely than their peers to have emotional and behavioral problems. That’s the findin... image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/dadandson_26093998-Jun-24-2025-05-09-12-0225-PM.jpg --- 11/10/11 12:00 AM # Children Are Affected by Depressed Dads ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/11/children-are-affected-by-depressed-dads.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/11/children-are-affected-by-depressed-dads.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/11/children-are-affected-by-depressed-dads.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/11/children-are-affected-by-depressed-dads.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/11/children-are-affected-by-depressed-dads.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/dadandson_26093998-Jun-24-2025-05-09-12-8006-PM.jpg?width=133&height=200&name=dadandson_26093998-Jun-24-2025-05-09-12-8006-PM.jpg)](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/dadandson_26093998-Jun-24-2025-05-09-13-8068-PM.jpg) Children who live with their depressed fathers are more likely than their peers to have emotional and behavioral problems. That’s the finding of Michael Weitzman, M.D., a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, and colleagues published in the November 7 *Pediatrics*. The researchers said the negative effects of maternal mental health problems on child health are well documented, but this is the first study to show that living with depressed fathers is independently associated with increased rates of children's emotional and behavior problems. Their study population was a representative sample of 22,000 children and their parents.   “[T]his finding raises questions of great importance about how to educate the health care workforce, how to develop and implement strategies to facilitate identifying fathers with mental health problems, and how to develop referral systems and ways to reimburse for this vital work,” wrote Weitzman and colleagues. To read more about the association between maternal mental health and child behavior, see *[Psychiatric News](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=108446)*. (Image: Elena Yakusheva/Shutterstock.com) [paternal depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/paternal-depression), [parental depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/parental-depression), [child mental health](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-mental-health), [father](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/father) ## Related posts [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/angry%20boy_74486923-Jun-24-2025-04-45-21-5382-PM.jpg?height=200&name=angry%20boy_74486923-Jun-24-2025-04-45-21-5382-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/02/irritable-youngsters-may-be-depressed.html) [child mental health](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-mental-health), [child irritability](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-irritability), [child depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-depression) ## [Irritable Youngsters May Be Depressed](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/02/irritable-youngsters-may-be-depressed.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 2/6/12 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/02/irritable-youngsters-may-be-depressed.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/iStock-883957938-Jun-24-2025-03-34-30-0907-PM.jpg?height=200&name=iStock-883957938-Jun-24-2025-03-34-30-0907-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/07/maternal-prenatal-depression-anxiety.html) [anxiety](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/anxiety), [meta-analysis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/meta-analysis), [maternal depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/maternal-depression), [JAACAP](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/jaacap), [Sheri Madigan](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/sheri-madigan), [child social and emotional development](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-social-and-emotional-development) ## [Maternal Prenatal Depression, Anxiety Affects Child Development, Particularly in Poorer Families](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/07/maternal-prenatal-depression-anxiety.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 6/24/24 11:16 AM Children of mothers who experienced depression and/or anxiety during pregnancy are more likely to... [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/07/maternal-prenatal-depression-anxiety.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/child_therapist_iStock-888168458-Jun-24-2025-09-38-49-6251-PM.jpg?height=200&name=child_therapist_iStock-888168458-Jun-24-2025-09-38-49-6251-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/08/adult-anxiety-and-poorer-function_5.html) [Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adole](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/journal-of-the-american-academy-of-child-and-adole), [children](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/children), [depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [anxiety](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/anxiety), [mental health services](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/mental-health-services) ## [Adult Anxiety and Poorer Function Linked to Childhood Depression But Can Be Prevented](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/08/adult-anxiety-and-poorer-function_5.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 8/5/20 12:00 AM Children or teenagers with depression are more likely to have higher rates of anxiety and worse... [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/08/adult-anxiety-and-poorer-function_5.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T17:11:07.872Z", "datePublished" : "2011-11-10T05:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Children Are Affected by Depressed Dads", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/dadandson_26093998-Jun-24-2025-05-09-12-0225-PM.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/11/children-are-affected-by-depressed-dads.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```