ABSTRACT
Objective: This study aimed to investigate and identify the psychosocial factors that are associated with paternal postpartum depression. Materials and methods: A longitudinal correlation study with 150 fathers was performed with three time frames (late pregnancy, postpartum, and four weeks postpartum). The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale assessed those with depression (38.7%; n=58) and those without depressive symptoms (61.3%; n=92). Psychological variables related to paternal depression were also assessed through questionnaires. Results: Psychological variables such as marital adjustment and stress had a significant relationship with paternal depression. In addition, depressed fathers experienced less marital compatibility and more tension than non-depressed fathers. Conclusion: These findings emphasize the importance of considering the psychosocial variables that affect paternal psychological health. Mental health professionals may be able to reduce mental disorders, stress, psychological distress, and marital maladjustment in fathers with appropriate psychological interventions.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Due to the importance of prenatal maternal stress as environmental factor on autism, the influence of prenatal maternal psychological agitations was assessed in relation with the risk of autism. METHODS: In this case-control study, some mothers of autistic children in Isfahan, central Iran, in 2014, were retrospectively compared with control mothers in terms of quantity, quality, and schedule of exposure to 45 stressful events in a 15-month period. In addition, dividing the stressors into two groups of genome-dependent/independent events, their prevalence was separately scrutinized and compared among patient and control families. RESULTS: Although the child's risk of autism increases significantly with the increase of maternal stress during months 4-7 of pregnancy, the increased stress during months 2-3 of pregnancy can lead to a significant increase in the severity of autism affliction as well as a slight but significant increase in the possibility of LFA in afflicted children (P<0.05). The overall prevalence of genome-dependent stressful events among two patient and control groups was significantly higher than that of genome-independent events (P=0.000), but genome-dependent events led to more stress inpatient families. CONCLUSION: Although the present study consistent with recent findings in the fields of epigenetics and gene-environment interactions can confirm the role of severe and scheduled prenatal stresses in causing autism, it does not deny the necessity of a perspective and wider study in Isfahan and Iran.
ABSTRACT
The discovery of fetal DNA (f-DNA) opens the possibility of early non-invasive procedure for detection of paternally inherited mutation of beta-thalassemia. Since 2002, some studies have examined the sensitivity and specificity of this method for detection of paternally inherited mutation of thalassemia in pregnant women at risk of having affected babies. We conducted a systematic review of published articles that evaluated using this method for early detection of paternally inherited mutation in maternal plasma. A sensitive search of multiple databases was done in which nine studies met our inclusion criteria. The sensitivity and specificity was 99 and 99 %, respectively. The current study found that detection of paternally inherited mutation of thalassemia using analysis of cell-free fetal DNA is highly accurate. This method could replace conventional and invasive methods.
