A qualitative forum analysis of fathers’ stressors and support seeking behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic

Fathers experienced high rates of mental health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social support is crucial to mitigate these problems; however, access to and quality of support were impacted by public health guidelines to increase physical distancing. Online forums offer an avenue for peer connection and support. Yet, minimal research has examined forum use during COVID-19 to describe the experiences, perceived stressors, and resource need of fathers during the pandemic. This study qualitatively analyzed fathers’ experiences through a Framework Analytic Approach of reddit’s sub-forum r/daddit. Posts (N=299) and comments (N=2597) between July and October 2020 were analyzed. Findings highlighted five main themes (with subthemes): forum use, family functioning, psychological and health factors, interpersonal functioning, and COVID-19. First and foremost, fathers used the online forum to provide support and advice to other fathers. Main themes are discussed in terms of informing the development of services to support father and family wellbeing.