Paradoxical Effects of Paternal Anxiety and Depression on Child Cognition and Behaviour

There is accumulating evidence that perinatal paternal depression might alter child neurodevelopmental trajectories. Questions remain regarding the critical period of exposure (pre- vs. postnatal); the significance of environmental/contextual factors; and the effect of sub-threshold anxious or depressive symptomatology in the absence of a formal disorder. As such, this longitudinal study aimed to examine the trajectory of self-reported paternal anxious/depressed symptoms from pre- to postnatal life and its effects on offspring neurodevelopment during middle childhood.