African American Dads Suffering from Depression Are Less Likely to be Involved with Their Children

African-American fathers who do not live with their sons and who suffer from depression are less likely to spend time with them, according to a University of Michigan study.

Dads who don’t live with their children can still have a positive impact in their kids’ lives however, and treating their depression could help them play a more active and positive role in their lives, says U-M pediatrician R. Neal Davis, M.D., a fellow with the Child Health Evaluation and Research unit and a lead author in the study which appeared in the December issue of Pediatrics.

Davis and his colleagues analyzed data for 345 participants in the CDC-funded program Fathers and Sons. The program is for pre-teen boys and African-American fathers who did not live with their children. The program’s goal is to prevent unhealthy behaviors in adolescent boys by increasing positive involvement with their fathers. Data collected from those participants found that 36 percent of fathers in the program suffered from moderate depression and 11 percent had severe depression.