Association of Paternal Workplace and Community Social Capital With Paternal Postnatal Depression and Anxiety: A Prospective Study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine the association between workplace and community social capital and fathers' postpartum depression and anxiety at 3 months after delivery in Japan. METHODS: Fathers who had babies delivered in two obstetric clinics in Tokyo, Japan were recruited to take part in the study (response rate = 76.2%). Participants completed questionnaires measuring workplace and community social capital, depression, and anxiety at 1 week and a follow-up at 3 months post-delivery (N = 398). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed with multiple imputation for missing data (at most, N = 60, 15.1%). RESULTS: Community social capital was inversely associated with both depressive symptoms (β = −0.21, 95%CI = −0.33 to −0.08) and anxiety (β = −0.38, 95%CI = −0.66 to −0.11) at 3 months, after adjusting for covariates. No association was found between workplace social capital and depressive symptoms and anxiety. CONCLUSION: Paternal community social capital, but not workplace social capital, was shown to be a preventive factor for paternal depression and anxiety up to 3 months post-delivery. To prevent paternal mental health problems during the postpartum period, an intervention to promote paternal community, rather than workplace, social capital may be warranted.