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December 3, 2008 2:09:47 AM CST

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Depressed Dads Make Kids Less Literate

Posted May 7, 08 1:20 PM CDT in Science & Health 

(Newser) – About 10% of new fathers show signs of clinical depression—a rate twice that of other men—and that can have a noticeable effect on their children, an American Psychiatric Association study finds. Sad dads interact less with their progeny, which means less bedtime reading and a smaller vocabulary by age 2, reports USA Today.

It's well documented that mothers' depression affects the academic performance of their kids, but with fathers taking on more child care, experts say, their parenting can have a big influence. "There aren't any secrets from babies," one psychiatrist says. "They absorb the feelings around them."

Source USA Today

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Happier fathers tend to read to their kids more than depressed dads, and the effect shows up in the tots' vocabulary by the time they're 2.   (Flickr)
The pressures of new fatherhood contribute to a raised rate of depression in men, which can in turn affect their children's development.   (Flickr)
"There aren't any secrets from babies. They absorb the feelings around them," says a psychiatrist studying depression in fathers.   (Flickr)
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parenting • depression • reading • infant • toddler • literacy • fatherhood • vocabulary


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