Relationship between social support during pregnancy and postpartum depressive state: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Although the association between social support and postpartum depression has been previously investigated, its causal relationship remains unclear. Therefore, we examined prospectively whether social support during pregnancy affected postpartum depression. Social support and depressive symptoms were assessed by Japanese version of Social Support Questionnaire (J-SSQ) and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), among 877 pregnant women in early pregnancy and at one month postpartum. First, J-SSQ was standardized among peripartum women. The J-SSQ was found to have a two-factor structure, with Number and Satisfaction subscales, by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Analysis of covariance was performed to examine how EPDS and J-SSQ scores during pregnancy affected the EPDS score at postpartum. Significant associations were found between postpartum EPDS score and both EPDS and total scores on the Number subscales during pregnancy (β = 0.488 and -0.054, ps < 0.001). Specifically, this negative correlation was stronger in depressive than non-depressive groups. Meanwhile, total score on Satisfaction subscales was not significantly associated with postpartum EPDS score. These results suggest that having a larger number of supportive persons during pregnancy helps protect against postpartum depression, and that this effect is greater in depressive than non-depressive pregnant women. This finding is expected to be vitally important in preventive interventions.

Social support and maternal mental health at 4 months and 1 year postpartum: analysis from the All Our Families cohort

“…This is consistent with previous research which suggested a greater number of support persons in pregnancy reduced postpartum depressive symptoms 14. Our study complements this finding as we considered social support to comprise the availability of different resources provided by support people, not only the number of people.…”

The Relationship Between Household Socioeconomic Status and Mental Health in Women During Pregnancy: A Path Analysis

“…This finding was consistent with the results of many other studies like Giurgescu et al and Morikawa et al, they found that mothers who enjoyed adequate social support during pregnancy experienced have a healthier pregnancy compared to those who did not have (42,43). Family and husband support during pregnancy may effect on maternal and fetal health through unmeasured mediators such as improved maternal health behaviors (refraining from smoking and drinking, etc.…”

Social support and depression across the perinatal period: A longitudinal study

“…Social support as a protective and modifiable factor has been well investigated in relation to antepartum or postpartum depression. Some studies have demonstrated that poor social support during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of antepartum (Aktas & Calik, ; Zeng, Cui, & Li, ) or postpartum depression (Morikawa et al., ), while others have investigated the significant relationship between social support and depression in the postpartum period (Leahy‐Warren, McCarthy, & Corcoran, ). However, few studies have considered changes in social support over the perinatal period and examined its relationship with depression at different times in the perinatal period.…”