First-time fathers aren't happy: A new study on parenting and dads' mental state

First-time fathers seem to feel a bigger drop in their happiness in the first two years after their first kid is born compared to dads who already have one child.

This is what a new experiment found - specialists studied how dads felt about their relationships before and after their first or second kid.

Let's find out more about it.

Studying dads' happiness

The researchers looked at answers from 500 first-time dads and 106 dads who were expecting their second child.

They asked the dads about how happy they were with their relationships before their kid was born and then again after it was born, multiple times.

They found that having a kid made both first-time and second-time fathers less happy with their relationships, but first-time dads started with higher happiness levels and had a bigger drop after the baby was born.

Even though first-time dads were happier than second-time fathers just 8 weeks after the baby was born, their happiness continued to drop until 14 months after.

On the other hand, second-time parents started feeling happier by 14 months and continued to be happier two years after their second kid was born.

During both of these times, second-time dads were happier than first-time dads and had gone back to their original happiness levels.

Why it's important

This research is the first to show that second-time dads get happier with their relationships after having another child, which is different from what studies have found for second-time moms.

So, the experiment suggests that dads becoming parents for the first time should be ready for their relationship to change, but if they decide to have another child, things might get easier over time.
 

• Related news:
• research
• fathers
• children
• 5 October 2023

---