Paternal psychological distress and father-toddler play

Scope: Fathers are more involved than ever in child-rearing, but have been underrepresented in parenting research, especially regarding their experience of psychological distress. Current literature suggests that fathers’ experience of psychological distress may have equivalent implications for the family to that of mothers, but further clarification is needed. Fathers’ time with children peaks in toddlerhood and predominantly takes the form of play-based interactions. Toddlerhood is recognised as a stage of accelerated development which might make children in this age-group particularly vulnerable to parental distress and poorer quality child-parent interactions. Greater understanding of the relationship between paternal psychological distress and the quality of father-toddler interaction during play is needed. Purpose: The current study aimed to explore the relationship between paternal psychological distress – general distress (depression, anxiety, and stress) and parenting stress – and the quality of child-parent interactions during a father-toddler play session. It was expected that general distress and parenting stress would be positively correlated, supporting the concept of comorbidity between these elements of paternal psychological distress. It was also hypothesised that fathers and mothers’ experience of parenting stress would be equivalent. Lastly, it was expected that fathers’ general distress and parenting stress would both be associated with poorer quality child-parent interactions.