Mental illness in fathers increases the risk of their daughters also suffering, according to research

The study was conducted on over 3,000 UK families.

There have been innumerable studies done on familial links when it comes to mental health, but new research is highlighting a fascinating theory. The father-daughter bond is a strong one in a lot of families and one study is now suggesting that the mental health of fathers could have a significant bearing on their daughter's wellbeing. And it's all got to do with how men feel after the birth of their daughters. The Guardian reports that a teenage girl is more at risk of developing mental health problems if her father has experienced post-natal depression, according to a study of more than 3,000 families in the Bristol area in England. It found that one in 20 fathers experienced post-natal depression in the weeks after their child was born. Researchers found a link between men with the condition and their daughters experiencing depression at the age of 18. A "small but significant" risk applied only to daughters as according to the study, sons were unaffected. This new research was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry and has been running since 1991. Commenting on the findings, Paul Ramchandani, of the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, said:

"What is new in this paper is that we were able to follow up the young people from birth through to the age of 18, when they were interviewed about their own experience of depression. Those young people whose fathers had been depressed back when they were born had an increased risk of depression at age 18 years."

While the reasons for this were not clearly identified, the father-daughter bond as girls grow up is one theory behind these findings. Postnatal depression amongst men can be quite common, with financial pressures and a lack of support being two key reasons why. If you have been affected, you can access help from organisations like the Samaritans.