{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T15:13:42Z","timestamp":1787238822609,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783987200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>How paternity leave relates to postpartum adjustment remains unclear.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We examined associations of paternity leave group [no leave, short (&amp;lt;1\u202fmonth), or long (\u22651\u202fmonth)] with mothers\u2019 parenting adaptation and depressive symptoms at 3\u202fmonths postpartum in a theory-guided SEM including mothers\u2019 reports of fathers\u2019 childcare and housework involvement and perceived coparenting quality.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This cross-sectional survey included 555 mothers (primipara,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f330; multipara,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f225). Participants completed questionnaires assessing fathers\u2019 involvement using the Child Care Activities and Housework Scale, coparenting quality using the Coparenting Relationship Scale, parenting resilience and adaptation using the Comprehensive Scale for Parenting Resilience and Adaptation, and depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Parity-stratified SEM estimated associations.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      In primiparous families, short and long leave were associated with higher paternal involvement; long leave had stronger associations across all four domains: Interactional Activities, Concrete Childcare Activities, Mental Support, and Housework. In multiparous families, leave was associated mainly with housework and task-based childcare, but not clearly with mental support. Across parity groups, mothers\u2019 reports of fathers\u2019 mental support showed the strongest association with mothers\u2019 perceived coparenting quality [primipara:\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.411, 95% CI (0.285, 0.527); multipara:\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.490, 95% CI (0.350, 0.612)]. Better coparenting was associated with fewer perceived difficulties in environmental resources and perceived support and with lower psychological maladaptation to parenting; psychological maladaptation was positively associated with depressive symptoms in both groups [primipara:\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.396, 95% CI (0.178, 0.571); multipara:\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.301, 95% CI (0.133, 0.459)]. Because no direct paths from paternity leave to depressive symptoms were specified, total effects represented indirect associations. These associations were small and negative for both short and long leave among primiparous mothers; among multiparous mothers, only short leave showed a small negative indirect association, whereas the association for long leave was not clearly supported.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Paternity leave duration showed small indirect associations with maternal parenting adaptation and depressive symptoms through fathers\u2019 involvement and coparenting quality. The findings suggest that the potential relevance of leave may depend not only on uptake and duration but also on supportive involvement and coparenting.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1807103","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T05:38:17Z","timestamp":1784007497000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Paternity leave, supportive involvement, and maternal postpartum adjustment: parity-stratified associations in a structural equation model"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Aiko","family":"Hironaka","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Science, Okayama University","place":["Okayama, Japan"]},{"name":"Department of Children and Women\u2019s Health, The University of Osaka Graduate School of Medicine","place":["Suita, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shoko","family":"Sugao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Children and Women\u2019s Health, The University of Osaka Graduate School of Medicine","place":["Suita, Japan"]},{"name":"Department of Clinical Psychology, Graduate School of Human Sciences, The University of Osaka","place":["Suita, Japan"]},{"name":"Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford","place":["Oxford, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Masayuki","family":"Endo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Children and Women\u2019s Health, The University of Osaka Graduate School of Medicine","place":["Suita, Japan"]},{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Osaka","place":["Suita, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hiroko","family":"Watanabe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Children and Women\u2019s Health, The University of Osaka Graduate School of Medicine","place":["Suita, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.1186\/s12888-023-04532-2","article-title":"Just snap out of it\u2014the experience of loneliness in women with perinatal depression: a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies","volume":"23","author":"Adlington","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMC Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1186\/s12905-021-01357-7","article-title":"Maternal adaptation of working mothers with infants or toddlers in South Korea: a systematic review","volume":"21","author":"Ahn","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMC Womens Health"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"545","DOI":"10.1086\/684851","article-title":"Parenthood and the gender gap in pay","volume":"34","author":"Angelov","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. 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