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Physical, sexual and social health factors associated with the trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms from pregnancy to 4 years postpartum

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Abstract

Purpose

Few studies have examined the course of maternal depressive across pregnancy and early parenthood. The aim of this study was to identify the physical, sexual and social health factors associated with the trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms from pregnancy to 4 years postpartum.

Method

Data were drawn from 1102 women participating in the Maternal Health Study, a prospective pregnancy cohort study in Melbourne, Australia. Self-administered questionnaires were completed at baseline (<24 weeks gestation), and at 3-, 6-, 12-, and 18 months, and 4 years postpartum.

Results

Latent class analysis modelling identified three distinct classes representing women who experienced minimal depressive symptoms (58.4%), subclinical symptoms (32.7%), and persistently high symptoms from pregnancy to 4 years postpartum (9.0%). Risk factors for subclinical and persistently high depressive symptoms were having migrated from a non-English speaking country, not being in paid employment during pregnancy, history of childhood physical abuse, history of depressive symptoms, partner relationship problems during pregnancy, exhaustion at 3 months postpartum, three or more sexual health problems at 3 months postpartum, and fear of a partner since birth at 6 months postpartum.

Conclusions

This study highlights the complexity of the relationships between emotional, physical, sexual and social health, and underscores the need for health professionals to ask women about their physical and sexual health, and consider the impact on their mental health throughout pregnancy and the early postpartum.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), VicHealth, and the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program. RG and SB were supported by a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship and a NHMRC Research Fellowship, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Healthy Mothers Healthy Families Group, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052, Australia

    Rebecca Giallo, Pamela Pilkington, Ellie McDonald, Deirdre Gartland, Hannah Woolhouse & Stephanie Brown

  2. Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care Academic Centre, The University of Melbourne, 200 Berkeley Street, Carlton, 3053, Australia

    Stephanie Brown

  3. Department of Paediatrics, Royal Children’s Hospital, The University of Melbourne, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052, Australia

    Stephanie Brown

Authors
  1. Rebecca Giallo
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  2. Pamela Pilkington
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  3. Ellie McDonald
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  4. Deirdre Gartland
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  5. Hannah Woolhouse
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  6. Stephanie Brown
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rebecca Giallo.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.

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Giallo, R., Pilkington, P., McDonald, E. et al. Physical, sexual and social health factors associated with the trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms from pregnancy to 4 years postpartum. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 52, 815–828 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-017-1387-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-017-1387-8

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