Global and relationship-specific perceptions of support and the development of postpartum depressive symptomatology
Authors
Cindy-Lee Dennis, Nicole Letourneau
Abstract
Background A lack of social support has
consistently been demonstrated to be an important
modifiable risk factor for postpartum depression. As
such, a greater understanding of specific support
variables may assist health professionals in the development of effective preventive interventions.
The purpose of this paper was two-fold: (1) to
determine if women discriminated between global
and relationship-specific perceptions of support, and
(2) to examine the influence of global and relationship-
specific perceptions of support in the immediate
postpartum period on the development of depressive
symptomatology at 8 weeks postpartum. Methods As
part of a longitudinal study, a diverse sample of 594
mothers completed questionnaires that included the
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and
global and relationship-specific (e.g., partner, mother,
and other women with children) measures of support.
Results Mothers clearly discriminated between global
and relationship-specific perceptions of support and
those with depressive symptomatology at 8 weeks had
significantly lower perceptions of both global and
relationship-specific support at 1-week postpartum.
Using discriminant function analysis, four variables,
reliable reliance from partner, nurturance from partner,
attachment to other women with children, and
EPDS score at 1-week postpartum, differentiated between
mothers who experienced depressive symptomatology
at 8 weeks and those who did not.