An analysis finds that 10% of men suffer serious depression at some point between a pregnant partner’s first trimester and one year after childbirth. Stress and sleep deprivation can be factors.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 10.4% of men experienced serious depression at some point between his partner’s first trimester and one year after childbirth, more than double the depression rate for men in general. American men were more likely to experience prenatal or postpartum depression compared with men in other countries, 14.1% in the U.S. compared with 8.2% internationally.

"It’s viewed as a disorder of motherhood. It’s not viewed by health professionals and the public as a problem in fathers," said James F. Paulson, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk.

But depression in either parent can affect both the couple’s relationship and the child’s development, Paulson said, adding that further study is needed. The contemporary father may be more vulnerable to this malady than previous generations of fathers because of the increasing number of women in the workplace and the corresponding expectations that he shoulder more responsibilities at home.