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Fathers Suffering Postpartum Depression May Hinder Child Development

Men are also at a high risk for depression following the birth of a child, shows new research presented at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in Washington last week.

Analyzing 4,500 new fathers, researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School found that 10 percent of men with a nine-month-old infant suffer clinical depression, compared to just 3 to 5 percent of other men.

A follow-up when the children had reached 24 months showed that depressed fathers were less likely to read to their children, hindering language development. Children from these families were found to use fewer common vocabulary words than children with healthy dads.

Read more: Study: New Dad's Depression Hurts Kids Too