Daddies Over-Worry Too

Fathers, like mothers, tend to think that the worst.

By Colin Allen, published on September 01, 2003

Fretting over the newborn isn't just for mothers: A majority of new fathers admit that they worry about harming their babies, according to a recent survey. The findings bring to question previous thinking that female hormonal fluctuations caused these morbid fears.

The 121 families that responded to the survey answered questions regarding unwanted thoughts such as "What if I drown my baby while bathing her?" or "My baby is going to die from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)." Worries included suffocation, accidents, intentional harm, losing the baby, illness, sexual thoughts and contamination. The researchers found that 58 percent of fathers and 69 percent of mothers had these distressing thoughts.

"Most people have obtrusive, upsetting thoughts that don't make sense to them from time to time," says study author Jon Abramowitz at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "They have this fear that just because they think of something, they are going to do it."

Abramowitz counsels parents not to fret about disturbing thoughts, since almost no parents act upon them. Constant worrying, though, can lead to problems such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The researchers conclude that these worries result not from hormones but from the continual pressure of being a responsible parent. "The fact that men have similar experiences to women suggests that we should rethink this,” says Abramowitz. “There probably is a very large environmental component to these thoughts."

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Setting.