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Marquette University: Research Study on Stay-at-Home Fathers Experiencing Depression

January 3, 2014 by Lance Somerfeld

Editor’s Note: We encourage and support the growing trend of research on fatherhood.  Here’s the latest query that we wanted to share with our readers. – L.S.
To Whom It May Concern,  

My name is Bill Caperton, a current Doctoral Candidate in Counseling Psychology at Marquette University. For my dissertation, I am conducting research investigating stay-at-home fathers (SAHFs) experiences with depression, help-seeking, and psychotherapy. This is a qualitative project, and I am hoping to interview between 12-18 SAHFs who have experienced depression during their tenure as primary caregivers.
 I would greatly appreciate any help you might be able to provide in connecting me with SAHFs who are interested in participating.

Sincerely,
William Caperton
William.caperton@marquette.edu

Recruitment Letter
Stay-at-home fathers are a rapidly expanding and under-studied group, and I am hoping that you will be able to give about an hour of your time to share some of your experiences in this area. A team of researchers at Marquette University is seeking volunteers to participate in a study of stay-at-home fathers’ experiences of depression and help-seeking. The study has been reviewed and approved by the Marquette University Institutional Review Board.
To participate in this study, you must self-identify as a stay-at-home father (SAHF) for children still living in the home, with a partner/spouse who is the primary breadwinner (e.g. your spouse must work outside the home 32 hours or more per week, and you must not work in a paid capacity more than 10 hours per week). In addition, you must have experienced a depressed mood, continuously, for at least two weeks, during your time as a SAHF.  Participation in this study involves completing one audio recorded telephone interview, lasting approximately 1 hour.
The focus of the interview will be on your experiences with depression, your experiences seeking help for depression, and (if you sought therapy for the depression) your thoughts regarding helpful and harmful practices for stay-at-home fathers in therapy. It will also ask you to reflect on ways you think your own sense of masculinity has changed since becoming a stay-at-home father, and ways in which your own masculinity influenced your help-seeking decisions. To ensure confidentiality, recordings, as well as the resulting transcripts and data, will be assigned a code number, and all identifiers will be deleted. After completion of the project, recordings will be erased. 
  
We recognize that there is a slight chance that talking about your experiences may be uncomfortable, and we are grateful for your willingness to do so. Of course, you are under no obligation to participate in this project, and you may withdraw your consent at any time without penalty. Let us assure you, as well, that our purpose is in no way to evaluate you, your parenting practices, or your therapy; instead, our goal is to understand more about the unique experiences stay-at-home fathers have contending with depression.
If you would like to participate, please email William Caperton, MA, at William.caperton@marquette.edu 

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Filed Under: at-home parenting, health, NYC Tagged With: depression, mental health, research, stay-at-home dads

About Lance Somerfeld

Lance Somerfeld, co-founder of City Dads Group, lives with his wife and two children in New York City. He frequently contributes to the conversation about modern fatherhood, work-life balance, shifting gender roles, and brand’s marketing to dads. He has appeared on local and national television, including CNN, Today and Katie. He has been quoted by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, GQ, Parenting and The Atlantic.

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