Melissa Julian1, Huynh-Nhu Le2, Mary Coussons-Read3, Calvin J Hobel4, Christine Dunkel Schetter5. 1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, George Washington University, United States. Electronic address: melissajulian@gwu.edu. 2. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, George Washington University, United States. 3. Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO United States. 4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, United States. 5. Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: One in seven women experience postpartum depression, posing a serious public health concern. One of the most robust predictors of elevated postpartum depressive symptoms is major stressful life events that occur during pregnancy. Having greater resilience resources that promote successful adaptation to stressful demands may be protective in the face of stress during pregnancy. The current study tested whether three resilience resources- mastery, dispositional optimism, and spirituality- each predicted early symptoms of postpartum depression and moderated the hypothesized association between experiencing stressful life events during pregnancy and symptoms of postpartum depression. METHODS: The sample included 233 women who participated in a prospective longitudinal study from pregnancy through postpartum. Depressive symptoms were assessed at approximately 4 to 8 weeks after birth, whereas resilience resources and stressful life events were measured in pregnancy. Multiple linear regressions were used to test hypotheses. RESULTS: Stressful life events predicted greater symptoms of depression postpartum. Mastery and optimism predicted fewer symptoms of depression postpartum. Mastery moderated the association between stressful life events and symptoms of depression when controlling for previous psychiatric history, t(231) = -1.97, p=.0497. LIMITATIONS: There was some attrition among study participants across timepoints, which was accounted for in analyses with multiple imputation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings point to the protective nature of a mother's sense of mastery in the face of major life stressors during pregnancy and suggest this is an important construct to target in interventions addressing postpartum depression.
BACKGROUND: One in seven women experience postpartum depression, posing a serious public health concern. One of the most robust predictors of elevated postpartum depressive symptoms is major stressful life events that occur during pregnancy. Having greater resilience resources that promote successful adaptation to stressful demands may be protective in the face of stress during pregnancy. The current study tested whether three resilience resources- mastery, dispositional optimism, and spirituality- each predicted early symptoms of postpartum depression and moderated the hypothesized association between experiencing stressful life events during pregnancy and symptoms of postpartum depression. METHODS: The sample included 233 women who participated in a prospective longitudinal study from pregnancy through postpartum. Depressive symptoms were assessed at approximately 4 to 8 weeks after birth, whereas resilience resources and stressful life events were measured in pregnancy. Multiple linear regressions were used to test hypotheses. RESULTS: Stressful life events predicted greater symptoms of depression postpartum. Mastery and optimism predicted fewer symptoms of depression postpartum. Mastery moderated the association between stressful life events and symptoms of depression when controlling for previous psychiatric history, t(231) = -1.97, p=.0497. LIMITATIONS: There was some attrition among study participants across timepoints, which was accounted for in analyses with multiple imputation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings point to the protective nature of a mother's sense of mastery in the face of major life stressors during pregnancy and suggest this is an important construct to target in interventions addressing postpartum depression.
Authors: Christine Dunkel Schetter; Peter Schafer; Robin Gaines Lanzi; Elizabeth Clark-Kauffman; Tonse N K Raju; Marianne M Hillemeier Journal: Perspect Psychol Sci Date: 2013-11-04
Authors: Belinda Lequertier; Mia A McLean; Sue Kildea; Suzanne King; Hazel Keedle; Yu Gao; Jacqueline A Boyle; Kingsley Agho; Hannah G Dahlen Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-04-21 Impact factor: 4.614