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Background High levels of expressed emotion ( EE) in parents have been found to put children at risk for emotional and behavioural problems. However, the majority of existing studies have focused on mothers of school-aged children and adolescents rather than younger children, and have only rarely included fathers. Methods The present study examined the reliability of EE in mothers and fathers of 1-year old children. It also investigated whether depression and marital problems in the postnatal period predicted EE toward the child at 12 months. EE was assessed with the Preschool Five Minute Speech Sample in 163 families. Results The rater-interrater and code-recode reliability was high for most EE dimensions. Mothers and fathers were found to display quite similar EE scores. Regression analyses showed that depression and couple relationship significantly predicted EE in mothers, but not fathers. Conclusions The findings suggest that EE provides a reliable and useful assessment of the family environment in families of young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Depression in fathers in the postnatal period is associated with an increased risk of child behaviour problems. A key potential pathway of risk transmission is exposure of the child to negative cognitions and affect in the context of early parenting. This study examines paternal speech during face-to-face father-infant interactions at 3 months. Method. Currently depressed (n = 19) and non-depressed (n = 19) fathers were individually matched on age and education. Speech was coded for cognitive biases and mentalizing statements using a modified version of previous measures of maternal speech. Paternal depression was diagnosed using a structured psychiatric interview. Results. Depression in fathers was associated with more speech focused on the paternal experience and less on the infants' experience. Depressed fathers' speech comprised more negative and critical utterances, compared with non-depressed fathers. Conclusions. Important differences emerge in the speech of fathers who experience depression. Examining negative cognitions in the speech of these fathers as early as 3 months may help in understanding children's risk in relation to paternal psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]