Parenting Journal · Volume 1 · Issue 5 · Licensed source edition
“Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work
Originally published 2023-05-08 · Healthcare
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) · DOI 10.3390/healthcare11091352 ↗
Working-family evidence
Work, care and the whole person.
Explores distress, guilt and changing worker identity among new fathers, broadening re-entry support beyond mothers.
Directly examines work and family life, parenting, caregiving or employment policies for families.
Editorial reading guide · Independence
Do we notice the new father who is struggling when he returns?
Explores distress, guilt and changing worker identity among new fathers, broadening re-entry support beyond mothers.
Study context
12 first-time fathers in a UK study of the transition to fatherhood.
Age / stage: Adult fathers returning soon after a first baby’s birth.
Read with three questions
- How did fathers describe distress and uncertainty about worker identity?
- What did returning after no leave or a short leave mean in the UK context?
- Which support suggestions arise from accounts rather than tested protective effects?
Keep the limits in view
A small qualitative study cannot estimate distress prevalence or prove that flexibility prevents mental-health problems; experiences are context-specific.
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Original authorship, publication date, journal and DOI are preserved. This issue’s TRICK placement and reading questions are editorial additions, not claims made by the original authors.
Suzanne Hodgson; Jon Painter; Laura Kilby; Julia Hirst (2023). “Crying on the Bus”: First Time Fathers’ Experiences of Distress on Their Return to Work Healthcare. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11091352
Permissions checked against the saved article notice; repository publication notices screened 2026-11-05. This is not a new peer-review decision. The source authors and publishers are not represented as endorsing this issue.