Infants & Young Children Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 134–141 Copyright c  2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Paternal Depression and Infant Cognitive Development Implications for Research and Intervention Shannon B. Wanless, MA; Sharon E. Rosenkoetter, PhD; Megan M. McClelland, PhD Although the negative impact of maternal depression on infants’ affective and cognitive devel- opment is well-documented, the contribution of paternal depression is often overlooked in the research literature and in early intervention practices. This review examines research on the link between paternal depression and infant cognitive outcomes. Although some disagreement exists, studies indicate that paternal depression limits father involvement, which, in turn, influences cog- nitive development. These findings have implications for research and early intervention program- ming that address fathers and young children. Further research on paternal depression is needed to understand how paternal depression specifically influences infant cognitive development and to clarify its implications for early intervention. The authors discuss ways that programs, includ- ing Early Head Start, have begun to address this issue, by intervening with fathers and children, building partnerships with mental health service agencies, and increasing staff members’ abilities to identify and support parents who are experiencing depression. Finally, discussion focuses on di- rections for future research and ways to support fathers who struggle with depression. Key words: cognitive outcomes, early intervention, infants, paternal depression, paternal involvement I N RECENT YEARS, Fathers’ contributions to early childhood outcomes have gained increasing attention in research and inter- vention (Lamb, 2004). Research indicates that fathers’ behaviors, attitudes, and con- veyed messages directly and indirectly influ- ence their children, but the specific mecha- nisms through which these factors influence children are poorly understood (Cummings, Goeke-Morey, & Raymond, 2004; Fagan & Iglesias, 2000; Kaplan, Sliter, & Burgess, 2007; Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004). Based on the strong links that have been identified between maternal factors and infant cognitive devel- Author Affiliation: The Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis. Corresponding Author: Shannon B. Wanless, Depart- ment of Human Development and Family Sciences, 322 Milam Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331 (wanlessh@onid.orst.edu). opment (Field, 1990), the present article sug- gests that 2 factors, paternal involvement and depression, are related to infant cognitive de- velopment. More specifically, we sought to examine whether paternal depression influ- ences children’s cognitive development in ways similar to maternal depression. Some factors related to fathers’ ability to in- fluence the development of their children in- clude fathers’ mental health, motivation, skills and self-confidence, social supports, and in- stitutional policies and practices (Lyons-Ruth, Wolfe, Lyubchik, & Steingard, 2002; Pleck & Masciadrelli, 2004). In particular, pater- nal depression is increasingly being recog- nized by researchers and early intervention practitioners as an important influence on young children. For example, 1 study of fa- thers found that over one third of the fathers in an Early Head Start sample were at risk for depression (Vogel, Boller, Faerber, Shannon, & Tamis-LeMonda, 2003). In another investi- gation, 10% of fathers in a national sample 134