Fogarty, AlisonMcMahon, GraceFindley, HelenHosking, CaseySchulz, MadisonSeymour, MoniqueLeach, LianaBorschmann, RohanGarfield, Craig F.Giallo, Rebecca2026-06-112026-06-110004-8674PubMed:39118251ORCID:/0000-0003-3686-2553/work/217149390https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733810408Objective: Suicide is a leading cause of death in males aged 25–44 years, an age which often coincides with becoming a father. This review aims to synthesise the evidence of the prevalence of suicidal and self-harm ideation in fathers during the perinatal, postnatal and early parenting period. Methods: Five databases were searched (PsycINFO, Medline, Web of Science, PubMed and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) to identify papers published between 1 January 2000 and 9 March 2023. A meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the prevalence of suicidality and self-harm ideation across the included studies. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore potential sources of heterogeneity. Results: A total of 4215 articles were identified, with 14 studies included in the review. The combined pooled prevalence of suicidal and self-harm ideation was 4.2% (95% CI [2.6%, 6.2%]). Prevalence estimates were higher for self-harm ideation at 5.1% (95% CI [2.6%, 6.2%]) than for suicidality at 3% (95% CI [0.9%, 6.1%]). Conclusions: This review found that a considerable proportion of fathers experience suicidal and self-harm ideation during the early years of parenting. However, the paucity of rigorous prevalence studies indicates that further research in this area is needed urgently.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: AF is supported by the NHMRC funded Stronger Futures CRE into Intergenerational Trauma. HF and CH were supported by funding through the MRFF Million Minds Mission Suicide Prevention initiative (MRF1200223). RB receives salary and research support from a National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant (EL2; GNT2008073). Researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute are supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program.14enPublisher Copyright: © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2024.fatherparenthoodperinatalpostnatalSelf-harmsuicidality202410.1177/0004867424126789685200967410