It is not common to talk about depression in men. However, an American study published on February 5, 2015 and carried out by Kevin Shafer of Brigham Young University and Garrett T. Pace of Princeton, reveals that the risk of depression linked to problems encountered in parenthood is very real, especially for step-children. fathers.
The stepfather is often parent and stepparent; it is precisely this double, even triple, role that makes his place difficult:he can be a parent from a first marriage, a step-parent in his blended family and again a parent in a second union. Stepfathers are, according to the study, 57% more likely to suffer from depression than single fathers.
Thus, the number of people with combined roles has increased over the past decades. This is due, in part, to significant changes in the forms taken by the family (20% of families are single-parent, 10% of families are blended). Because of this, many parenting roles can be psychologically challenging for both men and women due to the need to balance these roles. For example, many remarried couples each having biological children, therefore stepchildren, will have a new biological child together to link this blended family. But it can increase stress in adults because of the complex family systems it creates.
These multiple parenting roles can have more negative effects on men than on women. The expectations of male parents can vary widely depending on the biological and residential status of the children. It is relatively common for a remarried man to have a non-residential biological child from his first marriage. Ambiguity in the parenting role of the non-residential child can manifest itself in various ways, ranging from total disengagement to an attitude of breadwinner with significant involvement. Since the child is not there on a daily basis, fathers can compensate for this absence by taking on a more paternal role with their stepchildren because of their residential status. This behavioral conflict could cause substantial stress in stepfathers.
Depending on the parental roles of mothers and fathers, the factors of depression differ. In the same way that we would like to be a good parent, we want - perhaps even more - to be a good step-parent:unfortunately, there is no miracle recipe. This fear of mismanagement can also be a stress factor.
Today, neither social workers nor the medical profession learn to take into account these factors linked to the parental role in these new forms of families that one and the same person must manage. As a result, the revealing symptoms of depression are often ignored or underestimated compared to their real consequences on the psychological state of the parent.
