description- – Maternal postpartum depression (PPD) has potential negative effects on a woman's partner, her child, and on mother-infant interaction. Little research has explored how father-infant interaction is affected when a mother is depressed, although there is some suggestion that a non-depressed father may buffer the negative effects of maternal depression on the infant. This research explored the influence of maternal PPD on paternal depressive level, paternal parenting stress, and paternal marital satisfaction, and the influence of these factors, and mother-infant interaction, on the father-infant relationship. Potential participants were recruited from the postpartum units of a large urban teaching hospital and 790 women were screened at 4 to 6 weeks postpartum. The resultant sample included 128 couples, 60 which included a woman who scored within the depressed range on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Study couples completed depression scales, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form, and a parental attachment inventory at 2 to 3 months postpartum. Parent-infant interaction was videotaped for scoring using the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression analyses, and MANOVAs were conducted. Partners of postpartum depressed women had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and parenting stress than partners of non-depressed women, but did not differ significantly on marital satisfaction. Maternal depression was significantly correlated with less optimal father-infant interaction. Father-infant interaction was not significantly associated with paternal marital satisfaction, paternal parenting stress, or mother-infant interaction. Paternal attachment to the infant was associated with higher paternal depression, lower paternal parenting stress, and more optimal paternal marital satisfaction, but not with maternal depression or mother-infant interaction. In this study, maternal PPD has negative effects on fathers and on father-infant interaction. The results provide evidence that fathers do not provide a buffering effect when a mother is depressed, but instead suggest that maternal depression's negative effect on father-infant interaction may increase potential risk to child development. This study highlights the need for a family focused approach to assessment and treatment of PPD.
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