Couvade Syndrome among Polish expectant fathers

Background

THE AIM OF THE STUDY:

The purpose of the present research was to examine the frequency of couvade symptoms in male subjects from the psychological aspect, which has been defined primarily as a personality trait often linked with taking over other people’s emotions or suffering, namely, empathy. The term compathy might be used here to describe male responses to pregnancy symptoms displayed by their pregnant partners [10]. It is worth noting that in the research presented here, Couvade Syndrome served as a dependent (endogenous) variable, while empathy is treated as an independent variable (exogenous variable). Associations were examined between the symptoms of Couvade Syndrome and such demographic variables as age, education, and marital status, which were included in the research model as additional independent variables.

Detailed analysis included:

Two main research questions were asked:

Material and Methods

METHODS:

A personality questionnaire and a survey were used to measure empathy and Couvade Syndrome:

In previous research, and according to the proposed model [26], taking the perspective of others and emphatic concern correlated positively with emotional intelligence, kindness shown to others, extraversion, or co-occurred with lower aggressiveness. Empathic concern also co-occurred with a tendency to worry or experience apprehension. Personal distress co-occurred with emotional instability, anxiety, neuroticism, negative reactions to change, or even verbal aggression [24–26]. The reliability indices obtained (Cronbach’s alpha for ET (EC)=0.78; for OP (PD)=0.78; for PP (TP)=0.74; [24] and validity analyses indicate that the SWE is an adequate tool to measure empathy. The SWE consists of 28 statements with a five-grade response scale.

A four-grade response scale was used. The tool used is characterized by a high degree of reliability: Cronbach’s alpha=0.87.

Results

Out of 130 men that stated their age, two age groups were the most numerous: 71 men of 26–30 YOA and 51 men of 31–40 YOA. One hundred and twenty six stated their education. Of them, 67 were university graduates, 55 had secondary education and 4 – basic vocational education. For the majority of men this was their first baby.

According to the research problem presented above, the research examined the structure of Couvade Syndrome and its prevalence in the study group, thus trying to answer the first research question. Average values for the group of 143 men show that the subjects actually do not notice symptoms of Couvade Syndrome in themselves. However, out of the set of conditions given, they most frequently experience (the average above 1.5) symptoms that are commonly linked with the syndrome, namely those related to weight (weight gain, changes in appetite and flatulence) (Table 1, Figure 1).

It is worth noting that 28% of men (n=40) had not noticed any symptoms of Couvade Syndrome in themselves.

Then, the links were analysed between Couvade Syndrome and the level of male empathy (in a multidimensional sense). In this way, the authors started to search for an answer to the next research question.

117 expectant fathers completed the Empathic Sensitiveness Scale [24]. 26 men did not complete the test, or they omitted some questions from the questionnaire, therefore their scores were not computed. Correlation analysis was carried out with calculation of Spearman’s rho in order to verify whether the individual components of empathy co-occur with the symptoms of Couvade Syndrome experienced. The results of the analysis indicate that the only component that positively correlates with Couvade Syndrome is personal distress, i.e. the tendency to take on the negative emotions of others (Spearman’s rho for OP (PD)-couvade =0.229; p<0.05 (one-sided significance)).

Because the distribution of the Couvade Syndrome variable diverged from the normal (Z=4.136; p<0.001), the results on that dimension were dichotomized over the median, and such a restated variable was included in the multiple linear regression analysis. The analysis indicated that empathy was a significant predictor of Couvade Syndrome but this only explained 7% of its symptoms’ variance (R=0.273, R-square=0.074; adjusted R-square=0.049, F [3,109]=2.917, p<0.05). Again, personal distress was an independent predictor of Couvade Syndrome (Beta correlation=0.262; p<0.01).

These results suggest that, in accordance with previous reports from the syndrome research, emotionally sensitive or prone to distress men may experience the couvade. Additional analyses did not reveal the importance of age and education in a tendency to experience Couvade Syndrome.

Discussion

LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH:

The following major limitations of the research can be distinguished:

Conclusions

Entering the role of father is often regarded as having to fulfill certain obligations – being supportive towards a female partner, and helping her in the process of pregnancy and labour. However, a man does not have to be an observer of this process. The awareness of becoming a father might lead to various reactions amongst men, including experiencing Couvade Syndrome. Today, Couvade Syndrome is not associated with social status, while the role of a man in labour is often undefined. For years this situation has been reflected in midwives and doctors’ behaviours towards fathers in the act of childbirth. Men did not participate in the process of pregnancy and labour, which were regarded as women’s issues. This changed in the 1970s, when fathers started to display their dissatisfaction with such a situation, and tried to create ways to engage in the process of increasing their family from the beginning. Couvade Syndrome became one of the signs of their deep emotional engagement in pregnancy and childbirth. Therefore, those fathers have become the active partners of expectant mothers. They are interested in their partners’ needs and help in the process of communication between women and medical staff during labour. However, we should not forget that because of the pervasive trend to engage fathers in labour, there are those who are mostly concerned with their own psychological situation, and do not concentrate on a mother’s feelings. They act egocentrically, not empathically, displaying the negative side of Couvade Syndrome. Processes which are associated with Couvade Syndrome, might be also viewed as a part of creating a new identity – the self as a father. Therefore, those men experience a stressfull moment in their lives, which redefines their perception of themselves. And it is well documented in the subject literature that identity issues should be analyzed in situations of personal crises [28–30]. Further studies on expectant fathers should be conducted in this direction.

Midwives might communicate with such fathers effectively, because men treat them as experts, but a woman’s desires might be omitted, causing her dissatisfaction. Therefore, there is a need to define the role of a father during the process of pregnancy and labour. Antenatal classes might serve as the beginning of the formal way to do this, followed by a family labour (if it is possible from a medical standpoint), where fathers are the active partners of mothers, ones who focus on a woman’s needs, supporting the communication between her and the midwife.