My research focuses on the role that fathers play in the aetiology of maternal perinatal depression and adverse child and adolescent outcomes. This includes father presence, nature and quality of father-child interactions and fathers’ mental health.

My current research interests are in the following areas:

• Antenatal and postnatal risk factors that contribute to the incidence and maintenance of maternal perinatal depression, including lack of male partner support during pregnancy and after the birth of the child.

• Family risk factors (e.g., father absence, parental conflict, parental depression, negative parenting) that contribute to child and adolescent depression with a focus on gender differences and possible mechanisms of action.

• Parental perinatal mental health and child development, in particular possible environmental mechanisms that underlie both adverse and resilient outcomes in children of depressed mothers (e.g., positive and sensitive relationship with a father).

• Intergenerational relationships between adult children and their fathers (e.g. frequency of contact, proximity, support) and the implications this has on fathers’ mental health and that of their children.

• Design of complex health interventions to improve parental perinatal mental health and to prevent adverse outcomes in children of depressed parents.