The objective of this work was to review published articles on the impact of perinatal stress on mothers' medium- or long-term psychological health and the efficacy of coping strategies, to determine if social support plays a role in the interaction between birth events and mothers' psychological experiences, and to identify the tools used for these measurements. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases were searched for English and French language articles from 2000 through 2010 inclusive. Thirty-seven articles fulfilled the selection criteria. The results of this review highlight an association between perceived stress and postpartum depressive symptoms. However, because perceived stress has been evaluated in a general manner, it was not possible to identify events having more or less relation to postpartum depressive symptoms in mothers. Social support also appeared to be related to mothers' psychological health. Coping strategies were difficult to analyze because of the lack of homogeneity in their definition across studies. The comparison among studies of social support and coping strategies was also difficult due to the diversity of tools used and their lack of specificity. New tools should be specifically developed for the perinatal period, and further research should be performed to understand better the events and adequacy of social support.

The aim of the authors in this study was to evaluate the relationships between perceived perinatal stress and social support to psychological health outcomes in mothers. A longitudinal, quantitative study was conducted in Geneva, Switzerland on 235 primiparous mothers from September 2010 to January 2012. Data were collected between gestational weeks 37 and 41 (T1), 2 days post-delivery (T2), and at 6 weeks postpartum (T3). Perinatal stress was associated with depressive symptoms (R = 0.223), anxiety (R = 0.242), and a low sense of parental self-efficacy (R = 0.21). However, satisfaction with social support moderated the relationship of stress to the health of mothers. In particular, the authors noted that the more women were provided with support from their partners, the less depressive symptoms and elevated levels of anxiety they reported, even under stressful conditions, while the satisfaction of support from their mothers boosted their sense of competency. Furthermore, satisfaction with emotional support from professionals tempered the stress during the post-partum period (∆R = 0.032; p < .05). The results revealed that perinatal stress was related to the psychological health of mothers, but social support may modulate these effects. A number of approaches could be implemented to manage this stress.

This article presents the post-delivery perceived stress inventory (PDPSI) and its psychometric properties. This inventory is unique in that it links the measurement of perceived stress to events experienced during and after delivery. A total of 235 French-speaking, primiparous mothers completed the PDPSI two days after their delivery. To evaluate the predictive validity of the PDPSI on anxiety and depression, participants also completed the EPDS and the STAI two days and six weeks postpartum. The exploratory analysis revealed a 16-item structure divided into five factors: F1: relationship with the child; F2: delivery; F3: fatigue after delivery; F4: breastfeeding; and F5: relationship with the caregivers. The PDPSI demonstrated good internal consistency. Moreover, confirmatory factor analysis produced excellent indices, indicating that the complexity of the PDPSI was taken into account and its fit to the sample. The discriminant analysis showed that the PDPSI was not sensitive to specific changes in the sample making the inventory generalizable to other populations. Predictive validity showed that the scale significantly predicted depression and anxiety in the early postpartum period as well as anxiety six weeks postpartum. Overall, the PDPSI showed excellent psychometric qualities, making it a useful tool for future research-evaluating interventions related to perceived stress during the postpartum period.

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This article presents the Antenatal Perceived Stress Inventory. The originality of this scale is to assess the impact of events experienced during pregnancy on the stress perceived by mothers. Scale validation was performed using data from 150 French-speaking nulliparous mothers and collected between 36 and 39 weeks of gestation (T1), and between 2 days (T2) and 6 weeks postpartum (T3). Factor analysis revealed a hierarchical three-factor structure that closely fit the data, including medical and obstetric risks/fetal health (F1), psychosocial changes (F2), and the prospect of childbirth (F3). The Antenatal Perceived Stress Inventory is a valid French prenatal stress scale with good psychometric properties.

Résumé Le présent article interroge les définitions possibles du terme « compétence », son contexte d’émergence dans le champ de la famille, ses contenus et les modalités d’évaluation des compétences parentales. Assistons-nous à un simple renversement de la notion d’incompétence ou à une réelle modification des regards posés sur les parents ? Pour tous les professionnels travaillant au soutien de la parentalité, voire à l’évaluation des points faibles et des ressources des familles, ce concept né du monde du travail peut s’avérer utile, mais à la condition d’en maîtriser les apports, les impasses voire les dérives possibles.

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Résumé Certains parents cumulent les difficultés. Ils sont à la fois précaires voire exclus de la sphère du travail et vulnérables dans la sphère familiale, ce dont témoignent les mesures de protection qui touchent leurs enfants. Pour lutter contre le risque de rupture du lien social, de nombreuses interventions mettent aujourd’hui l’accent sur le soutien à la parentalité, la valorisation des compétences parentales, la reconnaissance de la place des parents. Mais qu’appelle-t-on « reconnaissance » et quelles formes prend-elle dans le registre des interventions sur la parentalité ? L’objet de cet article est de présenter une recension des théories de la reconnaissance, de donner les premiers résultats d’une recherche portant sur les formes prises par cette reconnaissance au sein d’une institution de protection de l’enfance en France. Le corpus est constitué de 300 questionnaires référencés par les éducateurs sur les enfants accueillis et de 15 entretiens semi-directifs effectués avec les parents des enfants. Ce corpus interroge les représentations et les pratiques des acteurs et met en lumière les questions de dignité sociale et de stigmatisation. Nos résultats montrent une permanence du décalage entre le discours officiel favorable à la place des parents et des pratiques portant atteinte à leur reconnaissance sociale.