Families

The importance of optimal parental mental health for optimal infant mental health through secure attachment is widely known. Despite this the help-seeking behaviours of, and support services for, fathers vary compared to the experiences of mothers. One of the key recommendations of the Rare Jewels Report was for governments to ‘incentivise local partners across health, children’s services and the voluntary and community sector to work together to develop and deliver local strategies to give all babies in their area the best start in life and to deliver local goals’ (Parent Infant Partnership UK, 2019: 48). The purpose of this research is to investigate the place of sport, physical activity and leisure in engaging new fathers and the processes and mechanisms of support and referral pathways and partnership working to support fathers of babies and young children.

The importance of optimal parental mental health for optimal infant mental health through secure attachment is widely known. There is increasing evidence of the benefits of physical activity for mental health and the risk that life transitions pose to both physical activity participation and mental health. Developing research in this area is helping us to understand the use of physical activity for the treatment and prevention of mental ill-health and the maintenance of mental health in the perinatal period and beyond. We can also better understand how physical activity is negotiated in the context of changing family lives and how this can be supported. The help-seeking behaviours of, and support services for, fathers vary compared to the experiences of mothers. We are also investigating the place of sport, physical activity and leisure in engaging new fathers and the processes and mechanisms of support, referral pathways and partnership working to support fathers of babies and young children.

There is increasing evidence of the benefits of physical activity for mental health and the risk that life transitions pose to both physical activity participation and mental health. Developing research in this area will help us to understand the use of physical activity for the treatment and prevention of mental ill-health and the maintenance of mental health in the perinatal period and beyond. We can also begin to better understand how physical activity for self-care and leisure-time physical activity is negotiated in the context of changing family lives and, importantly, how this can be supported. More adequate understanding of the experiences of parents through transitions into parenthood and when caring for babies or young children is vital. Optimal parental mental health supports optimal infant mental health.