Interventions used to promote paternal mental health during the perinatal period: a scoping review

Following recent international calls to strengthen research on paternal perinatal mental health, interest in this area has increased. The present review aims to identify the key gaps within the emerging evidence base that warrant further investigation in the years ahead. This scoping review maps the available interventions for fathers and explores the potential role of psychological therapies in improving paternal mental health outcomes. This scoping review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A structured search of PubMed, CINAHL, and Medline was conducted from January 2005 to January 2025. The studies were screened using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The search identified 446 records, of which 22 met the inclusion criteria. These studies, published between 2012 and 2025, were conducted across 15 countries and four continents. The findings suggest that several interventions are available to fathers, including digital interventions, couples and family-based approaches, group therapy, and individual Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Several studies reported beneficial outcomes, particularly for group-based approaches and interventions incorporating CBT elements. However, the exact mechanisms of change and the long-term effects of group therapy and CBT for this population remain inconclusive. This review highlights the potential role of CBT and group therapy as promising interventions for paternal mental health. While the findings are encouraging, further randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to assess the long-term effects of group-based interventions and CBT.

Paternal perinatal depression (PPD); Paternal perinatal anxiety (PPA) fathers’ wellbeing; Depression, anxiety, health disparities; Paternal perinatal mental health; Psychological interventions; Perinatal period; Scoping review

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