Background: Depression, anxiety and fear of childbirth during pregnancy have numerous consequences for women and their developing offspring. For a significant proportion of women, postpartum depression (PPD) is the first mood episode in their lives, yet its aetiology still remains unclear. Insecure attachment in close adult relationships is considered to be a risk factor for depressive symptoms. In Slovenia we lack an analysis of the complex connection of primiparas’ main mental health risk factors to the individual and contextual factors, with an emphasis on intimate attachment or regarding other important interpersonal relations in the crucial time period of peripartum.
Study aim: This study aimed to gain further insight into the risk factors for postpartum depression symptoms (PPDS) of nulliparas during the third trimester of pregnancy until 6 weeks postpartum regarding the main demographic and important contextual–relational factors, with an emphasis on partner attachment.
Hypothesis: We hypothesized that for nulliparous women there would be a significant prediction of levels of anxiety, depression and fear of childbirth scores in the third trimester of pregnancy and prediction levels of depression postpartum by prediction variables (nulliparas’ chosen individual and contextual factors).
Methods: A group of 325 nulliparas in the third trimester of pregnancy was enrolled in a childbirth preparation program. The following instruments were applied: Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised, the Edinburgh Postpatum Depression Scale, the Zung Anxiety Scale, and a questionnaire regarding fear of childbirth. Three separate multiple linear regression models were built to explore the associations between demographic, social and attachment variables and mental health functioning. In the second analysis, 181 nulliparas in the third trimester of pregnancy were included. Univariate logistic regression was used to test the association between demographic, social, environmental, personality and attachment variables and PPD of nulliparas (EPDS 10). A multiple linear regression model was built with the postpartum EPDS as a dependent variable.
Results: 16% (25/156) nulliparas were evaluated as being at risk for depression (EPDS 10) in the last trimester and 16.2% (27/166) at six weeks postpartum. During the third trimester, highly educated nulliparas and those with a higher level of co-workers’ emotional support experienced a lower level of anxiety when other predictors in the model were held constant. Of all the predictors in the model, only attachment anxiety and co-workers’ support were statistically significantly associated with the level of depression during the third trimester of pregnancy. Attachment anxiety during pregnancy was significantly associated with all three mental health indicators (level of depression, anxiety and fear of childbirth). In the postpartum period, increased risk for developing PPDS was associated with depression level during pregnancy, anxiety levels during pregnancy and postpartum, intimate-partner-attachment anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum, and elevated stress due to loss of employment or an unsuccessful search for employment in the previous year. Support from co-workers in the last trimester of pregnancy was a beneficial factor for PPD. The EPDS after giving birth was higher for more educated and more anxious primiparas.
Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that intimate attachment anxiety could be a key contextual factor for mood and anxiety mental health functioning during the third trimester of pregnancy and an important factor for PPDS development. With appropriate interventions, anxious attachment style is accessible to change. The results suggest that PPDS should be evaluated in the context of individual, important relational and stress-connected factors. The inclusion of attachment styles in assessments of perinatal depressive disorders might prove useful in antenatal screening for high risk of PPDS. Our results could facilitate the formulation of interventions for reducing antenatal depressive symptoms. Work- and career-related stress is an important factor that should be taken into account by experts who deal with nulliparas’ mental health.
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