Association of Paternity Leave with Impaired Father-Infant Bonding: Findings from a Nationwide Online Survey in Japan.

Although the number of fathers taking childcare leave is increasing, the impact of paternity leave on father-infant bonding remains to be fully investigated. This study aimed to assess the association between paternity leave and father-infant bonding among fathers with children under two years old. A cross-sectional study was performed using data from the Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey study, a nationwide online survey conducted between July and August 2021 (N = 1194). Father-infant bonding was assessed by the Japanese version of the Mother-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS-J), which comprised two subscales (lack of affection (LA), and anger and rejection (AR)), with a higher score denoting poor bonding. Four hundred (33.5%) fathers self-reported taking childcare leave. Paternity leave was associated with higher total MIBS-J score and AR score after adjusting for covariates (coefficient 0.51; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06-0.96, coefficient 0.26; 95% CI 0.03-0.49, respectively), but not with LA score (coefficient 0.10; 95% CI -0.13-0.34). There was no trend in the association between paternity leave and total MIBS-J score by children's age group (p for trend = 0.98). Paternity leave was associated with impaired bonding, especially with increased anger and rejection, among fathers with children under two years of age.

The relationship between postpartum depression and social support during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: This study aims to examine the prevalence of postpartum depression and its relationship with social support adjusted for self-perceived impact of COVID-19 in parturient women admitted to a perinatal medical center in Japan. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 513 women who underwent a 1-month postpartum checkup between August 3 and November 27, 2020. Postpartum depression was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Social support was measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the score was dichotomized using the Youden index. Nineteen demographic and obstetric characteristics were also assessed. RESULTS: Postpartum depression was observed in 35 (7.6%) of 461 women: 25 (26.6%) and 10 (2.7%) in the low- and high-support groups, respectively. Women in the low-support group were significantly more likely to have postpartum depression than those in the high-support group (odds ratio [OR], 11.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.4-27.3; p < 0.001). Furthermore, no interaction was observed between social support and the impact of COVID-19 for postpartum depression (p = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of postpartum depression in the study institution was lower than that reported by previous studies in Japan. Moreover, social support was an important predictive factor for postpartum depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.