Predictors of Postpartum Depression: An Update

By Cheryl Tatano Beck. Nursing Research, 2001

2,014 citations recorded by the source corpus.

BackgroundApproximately 13% of women experience postpartum depression. Early recognition is one of the most difficult challenges with this mood disorder because of how covertly it is suffered. ObjectivesThe purpose of this meta-analysis was to update the findings of an earlier meta-analysis of postpartum depression predictors that had synthesized the results of studies conducted mostly in the 1980s. MethodA meta-analysis of 84 studies published in the decade of the 1990s was conducted to determine the magnitude of the relationships between postpartum depression and various risk factors. Using the software system Advanced Basic Meta-Analysis, effect sizes were calculated three ways: unweighted, weighted by sample size, and weighted by quality index score. ResultsThirteen significant predictors of postpartum depression were revealed. Ten of the 13 risk factors had moderate effect sizes while three predictors had small effect sizes. The mean effect size indicator ranges for each risk factor were as follows: prenatal depression (.44 to .46), self esteem (.45 to. 47), childcare stress (.45 to .46), prenatal anxiety (.41 to .45), life stress (.38 to .40), social support (.36 to .41), marital relationship (.38 to .39), history of previous depression (.38 to .39), infant temperament (.33 to .34), maternity blues (.25 to .31), marital status (.21 to .35), socioeconomic status (.19 to .22), and unplanned/unwanted pregnancy (.14 to .17). ConclusionsResults confirmed findings of an earlier meta-analysis and in addition revealed four new predictors of postpartum depression: self-esteem, marital status, socioeconomic status, and unplanned/unwanted pregnancy.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/346275998c49a89c289bf641d89b44da34d2f954

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Citations in the corpus

Predicting postpartum changes in emotion and behavior via social media (2013, background): “Other known PPD triggers, such as difficult infant temperament and childcare stress [3] only manifest after the birth of the baby.”
Risk factors for antenatal depression, postnatal depression and parenting stress (2008, background): “Risk factors for postnatal depression (PND) Three major meta-analytic studies have been conducted revealing a number of risk factors strongly associated with PND: a history of depression, antenatal depression, antenatal anxiety, stressful life events, negative cognitive attributional style, low self”
Antenatal risk factors for postnatal depression: a large prospective study. (2008, background): “There have been several meta-analyses and systematic reviews of the subject (Beck, 1996; O'Hara and Swain, 1996; Beck, 2001; Roberston et al., 2004) and, briefly, the main variables of interest can be summarised as follows:”
Characterizing and predicting postpartum depression from shared facebook data (2014, background): “This aligns with findings in the clinical literature where typically prepartum depression is known to be a good indicator of PPD, along with post-childbirth anxiety and stress [2].”
Gender differences in unipolar depression: an update of epidemiological findings and possible explanations (2003, background): “It has been proposed that a subgroup of women with affective spectrum disorders (including Major Depression, premenstrual syndrome, PPD as well as rapid cycling bipolar disorder) may suffer from masked subclinical hypothyroidism.”
Identifying the women at risk of antenatal anxiety and depression: A systematic review (2016, background): “…literature reviews and meta-analyses regarding perinatal mental illness and relevant risk factors were consulted regardless of publication date (Beck, 2001; Bennett et al., 2004; Gavin et al., 2005; Howard et al., 2013; Lancaster et al., 2010; Norhayati et al., 2015; O'hara and Swain, 1996;…”
Magnitude and risk factors for postpartum symptoms: a literature review. (2015, background): “Two meta-analyses (Beck, 2001; Robertson et al., 2004) have identified the strongest risk factors for postpartum depression, namely, antenatal depression or anxiety, personal and family history of depression, low social support, poor marital relationship, and stressful life events.”
Postpartum depression: current status and future directions. (2013, methodology): “Several meta-analyses of risk factors for PPD have been conducted (Beck 2001, O’Hara & Swain 1996, Robertson et al. 2004).”