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Longitudinal study of depression and health status in pregnant women: incidence, course and predictive factors

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of isolated psychological intimate partner violence and psychosocial factors (social support and alcohol or drug use by a partner/family member) on psychological well-being (depression or poor self-perceived health status) at 5 and 12 months post-partum. A longitudinal cohort study was carried out with a consecutive sample of 1,400 women in their first trimester of pregnancy, who attended the prenatal programme in the Valencia Region (Spain) in 2008 and were followed up at 5 months and 12 months post-partum. A logistic regression model was fitted using generalized estimating equations, to assess the effect of isolated psychological intimate partner violence, social support, alcohol consumption and illicit drug use problems by a partner or family member on subsequent psychological well-being at follow-up. We observed a decrease in the incidence of poorer psychological well-being (post-partum depression and poor self-perceived health status) at 12 months post-partum. The strongest predictor of poor psychological well-being was depression (AOR = 6.83, 95 % CI: 3.44–13.58) or poor self-perceived health status (AOR = 5.34, 95 % CI: 2.37–12.02) during pregnancy. Isolated psychological IPV increased the risk of a deterioration in psychological well-being. Having a tangible social network was also a predictor of both post-partum depression and poor self-perceived health status. The effect of functional social support varied according to the type of psychological well-being indicator being used. Problems of alcohol consumption or illicit drug use by a partner or family member were a predictor of post-partum depression only. Psychological well-being during the first year after birth is highly affected by isolated psychological IPV and psychosocial factors.

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Abbreviations

AOR:

Adjusted odds ratio

CI:

Confidence interval

IPV:

Intimate partner violence

PPD:

Post-partum depression

SPHS:

Self-perceived health status

AAS:

Abuse assessment screen

MOS-SS:

Medical outcome study-social support survey

GEE:

Generalized estimating equations

IQR:

Inter-quartile range

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by two research grants from “Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS)” (Ministry of Health): FIS-FEDER PI06/1565 and FIS-FEDER PS09/00523. Also, the authors thank all of the women who participated in the study.

Conflict of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Public Health Research, Avda. Catalunya, 21, 46020, Valencia, Spain

    Vicenta Escribà-Agüir & Manuela Royo-Marqués

  2. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain

    Vicenta Escribà-Agüir, Lucía Artazcoz & Isabel Ruiz-Pérez

  3. Department of Nursing, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Vicenta Escribà-Agüir

  4. Barcelona Public Health Agency, Barcelona, Spain

    Lucía Artazcoz

  5. Department of Psychology, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

    Patrizia Romito

  6. Andalusia School of Public Health, Granada, Spain

    Isabel Ruiz-Pérez

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  1. Vicenta Escribà-Agüir
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  2. Manuela Royo-Marqués
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Correspondence to Vicenta Escribà-Agüir.

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Escribà-Agüir, V., Royo-Marqués, M., Artazcoz, L. et al. Longitudinal study of depression and health status in pregnant women: incidence, course and predictive factors. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 263, 143–151 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-012-0336-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-012-0336-5

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