%0 Journal Article
%T Prevalence of suicidal and self-harm ideation in fathers during the perinatal and early parenting period: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
%A Fogarty A
%A McMahon G
%A Findley H
%A Hosking C
%A Schulz M
%A Seymour M
%A Leach L
%A Borschmann R
%A Garfield CF
%A Giallo R
%J Aust N Z J Psychiatry
%V 0
%N 0
%D 2024 Aug 8
%M 39118251
%F 5.598
%R 10.1177/00048674241267896
%X UNASSIGNED: Suicide is a leading cause of death in males aged 25-44 years, an age which often coincides with becoming a father. This review aims to synthesise the evidence of the prevalence of suicidal and self-harm ideation in fathers during the perinatal, postnatal and early parenting period.
UNASSIGNED: Five databases were searched (PsycINFO, Medline, Web of Science, PubMed and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) to identify papers published between 1 January 2000 and 9 March 2023. A meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the prevalence of suicidality and self-harm ideation across the included studies. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore potential sources of heterogeneity.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 4215 articles were identified, with 14 studies included in the review. The combined pooled prevalence of suicidal and self-harm ideation was 4.2% (95% CI [2.6%, 6.2%]). Prevalence estimates were higher for self-harm ideation at 5.1% (95% CI [2.6%, 6.2%]) than for suicidality at 3% (95% CI [0.9%, 6.1%]).
UNASSIGNED: This review found that a considerable proportion of fathers experience suicidal and self-harm ideation during the early years of parenting. However, the paucity of rigorous prevalence studies indicates that further research in this area is needed urgently.