Fathers with PTSD and depression in pregnancies complicated by preterm preeclampsia or PPROM

To assess prevalence and risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in fathers after early preeclampsia (PE) or preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). Partners of patients hospitalized for PE or PPROM and partners of healthy controls completed PTSD (PSS-SR) and depression (BDI-II) questionnaires during pregnancy (t (1)) and 6 weeks postpartum (t (2)). 85 of the 187 eligible men participated (51 partners of patients, 34 partners of control) at t (1), and 66 men participated both time points. No significant differences were found between partners of patients and partners of controls in symptoms of PTSD and depression (t (1): p = 0.28 for PTSD and p = 0.34 for depression; t (2): p = 0.08 for PTSD and p = 0.31 for depression). For partners of patients, correlation between PTSD and depression sum-scores was 0.48 (p <0.001) at t (1) and 0.86 (p <0.001) at t (2). Within-couple correlation was low and not significant during pregnancy, but strong at postpartum (PSS-SR: r = 0.62, p <0.001; BDI-II: r = 0.59, p