Trust and well-being of postpartum women during the COVID-19 crisis: Depression and fear of COVID-19

Abstract

During crisis, trust has been found to have a buffering effect in the prevention of the deterioration of mental well-being, as trust is considered to reflect the individual's capability to gain social resources including both formal and informal support. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, political trust has been found to reduce anxiety. Taking these findings into account, this study explores the association of generalised and political trust with mental well-being on current postpartum women who were particularly at risk due to a decline in social support leaving them an increased burden of caring newborns during the pandemic. We conducted a crosssectional survey in October 2020 in Japan (n=558). Depressive symptoms (above the cutoff of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)) and Fear of Coronavirus-19 Scale (FCV–19S) scores were used as mental well-being indicators. Generalised and political trust were captured by binary variables. Results of regression analyses, in which covariates were fully adjusted, showed that higher generalised trust had a statistically significant association with lower possibility of depressive symptoms and a lower FCV-19S score, while political trust was not significantly associated with either indicator. For further understanding, we divided respondents into two groups; women living in cities where higher COVID-19 cases were reported and women living in areas with lower COVID-19 cases, to test whether the role of trust differs depending on the infection spread status. It was found that a higher generalised trust was significantly associated with a lower probability of having depressive symptoms in the areas with lower COVID-19 cases. However, statistical significance was not observed in the areas with high COVID-19 cases. This highlighted that even postpartum women who were normally capable of receiving formal and informal social support need to be taken care of in the current situation.

Institutional Trust as a Protective Factor during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

“…These beliefs are crucial for individual subjective well-being [ 11 , 48 ]. Our results also align with existing experimental studies suggesting that positive attitudes toward institutional relationships are significantly associated with better life satisfaction, more positive affect, and less negative affect during the COVID-19 crisis [ 6 , 11 , 49 ].…”

“…The COVID-19 outbreak has severely threatened people’s physical and mental health [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Individuals have faced the worry of being infected and the pressure of interpersonal isolation during the COVID-19 crisis, resulting in increased depression and fear [ 6 ], severe sleep disruptions [ 7 ], and decreased subjective well-being [ 8 ]. Therefore, how individuals cope with the ongoing fear of COVID-19 and sustain their subjective well-being has become a crucial concern [ 9 ].…”

“…Institutional trust is pivotal in protecting subjective well-being during pandemics and disasters [ 6 , 10 , 11 ]. However, the mechanisms through which institutional trust relates to or influences subjective well-being in the context of the COVID-19 crisis remain unclear.…”

“…Lee reveals that older adults’ institutional trust plays an essential role in buffering against the negative well-being outcomes of the COVID-19 [ 11 ]. Matsushima et al have surveyed postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that higher trust in neighbors is related to lower negative affect, namely, depression and fear [ 6 ]. Recent research shows that trust in government is significantly associated with Chinese participants’ depressive symptoms and life satisfaction [ 20 ].…”

“…According to Legido-Quigley et al and Yuan et al, trust in the government and health institutions may weaken the COVID-19 fear by increasing participants’ willingness to comply with the official instructions or commands, such as using face masks and testing for COVID-19 [ 33 , 34 ]. Matsushima et al show that those trusting that their neighbors follow infection control measures exhibit less fear of COVID-19 [ 6 ]. The COVID-19 fear may induce a generalized negative affect [ 35 , 36 ].…”