Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Perinatal Depressive Symptoms Among Arab Women in Northern Israel

  • Published:
Maternal and Child Health Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Perinatal depression, a prevalent condition with negative consequences for the mother, infant and family, has been reported in many countries. This study aimed to assess the scope of depressive symptoms among pregnant and postnatal Israeli Arab women and to identify possible risk factors. Data were collected from a screening program at 58 Mother–Child Health Care clinics in northern Israel from June to December, 2009. Participants included 1,254 pregnant and 2,326 postnatal women. The rate of antenatal depressive symptoms, i.e., a score of ≥10 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was 20.8%. Women attending clinics with primarily religious or traditional populations had lower rates antenatally than did those described as secular. During the postnatal period 16.3% of the women scored ≥10 on the EPDS. The rate of postnatal depressive symptoms was significantly higher among women living in Moslem than Druze communities (EPDS ≥ 10: 19.0% vs. 13.4%, respectively, P = 0.01). Postnatally, there were no significant differences according to SES cluster, community size, or religious orientation. The rate of antenatal and postnatal depression among Arab women in northern Israel was somewhat higher than that of Jewish Israeli women in the same region, and considerably lower than that of Arab Bedouin women in southern Israel. Given the differences in their life styles and circumstances, health policy authorities should be informed regarding the needs of these various sub-populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Brockington, I. (2004). Postpartum psychiatric disorders. The Lancet, 363, 303–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Gavin, N. I., Gaynes, B. N., Lohr, K. N., Meltzer-Brody, S., Gartlehner, G., & Swinson, T. (2005). Perinatal depression: A systematic review of prevalence and incidence. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 106, 1071–1083.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Halbreich, U., & Karkun, S. (2006). Cross-cultural and social diversity of prevalence of postpartum depression and depressive symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 91, 97–111.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Brett, K., Barfield, W., & Williams, C. (2008). Prevalence of self-reported postpartum depressive symptoms–17 states, 2004–2005. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 57(14), 361–366.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Goldbort, J. (2006). Transcultural analysis of postpartum depression. MCN; American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 31, 121–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. O’hara, M. W., & Swain, A. M. (1996). Rates and risk of postnatal depression—a meta-analysis. International Review of Psychiatry, 8, 37–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bloch, M., Rotenberg, N., Doren, D., & Klein, E. (2005). Risk factors associated with the development of postpartum mood disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders, 88, 9–18.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Eilat-Tsanani, S., Merom, A., Romano, S., Reshef, A., Lavi, I., & Tabenkin, H. (2006). The effect of postpartum depression on women’s consultations with physicians. IMAJ, 8, 406–410.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Glasser, S., Barell, V., Shoham, A., Ziv, A., Boyko, V., Lusky, A., et al. (1998). Prospective study of postpartum depression in an Israeli cohort: prevalence, incidence and demographic risk factors. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 19, 155–164.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Fisch, R. Z., Tadmor, O. P., Dankner, R., & Diamant, Y. Z. (1997). Postnatal depression: A prospective study of its prevalence, incidence and psychosocial determinants in an Israeli sample. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research, 23, 547–554.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Mishina, H., & Takayama, J. I. (2009). Screening for maternal depression in primary care pediatrics. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 21, 789–793.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Wisner, K. L., Chambers, C., & Sit, D. K. (2006). Postpartum depression: A major public health problem. JAMA, 296(21), 2616–2618.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Central Bureau of Statistics. (2009). Statistical abstract of Israel. Jerusalem, Israel.

  14. Alfiomi-Ziadna Samira. (2010). The relation between family and socio-demographic characteristics and postpartum depression among Negev Bedouin women. MA Thesis, Ben Gurion University.

  15. Al-Krenawi, A. (2000). Culturally sensitive social work practice with Arab clients in mental health settings. Health and Social Work, 25, 9–22.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Okun, B. S., & Friedlander, D. (2005). Educational stratification among Arabs and Jews in Israel: Historical disadvantage, discrimination and opportunity. Population Studies-a Journal of Demography, 59(2), 163–180.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Aridi, N. (2002). The Druze in Israel. http://www.mfa.gov.il?MFA/MFAAArchive?2000_2009/2002/12/Focus%20%on%20%Israel-%The%20%Druze%20%in%20%Israel. Accessed October 20, 2010.

  18. Abou-Saleh, M. T., & Ghubash, R. (1997). The prevalence of early postpartum psychiatric morbidity in Dubai: A transcultural perspective. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 95, 428–432.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Agoub, M., Moussaoui, D., & Battas, O. (2005). Prevalence of postpartum depression in a Moroccan sample. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 8, 37–43.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Chaaya, M., Campbell, O. M., El Kak, F., Shaar, D., Harb, H., & Kaddour, A. (2002). Postpartum depression: Prevalence and determinants in Lebanon. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 5, 65–72.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Green, K., Broome, H., & Mirabella, J. (2006). Postnatal depression among mothers in the United Arab Emirates: Socio-cultural and physical factors. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 11, 425–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Lteif, Y., Kesrouani, A., & Richa, S. (2005). Depressive syndromes during pregnancy: prevalence and risk factors. Journal of Gynecology Obstetrics Bio Reproduction (Paris), 34, 262–269. Abstract accessed at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16012387, June 9, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Masmoudi, J., Tabelsi, S., Charfeddine, F., Ben Ayed, B., Guermazzi, M., & Jaoua, A. (2008). Study of the prevalence of postpartum depression among 213 Tunisian parturients (in French). Gynécologie, Obstétrique & Fertilité, 36, 782–787.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Mohammad, K. I. S. (2007). Incidence and factors associated with postnatal depression among Jordanian women. Dissertation, Griffith University. Available: http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/uploads/approved/adt-QGU20100730.094701/public/02Whole.pdf. Accessed October 15, 2010.

  25. Oweis, A. (2001). Relationships among situational variables of perceived stress of the childbirth experience, perceived length and perceived difficulty of labor, selected personal variables, perceived nursing support and postpartum depression in primiparous Jordanian women living in Jordan. Dissertation, Widener University School of Nursing. Available: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=728493611&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1287571148&clientId=11916. Accessed October 15, 2010.

  26. Glasser, S., Stoski, E., Kneler, V., & Magnezi, R. (2011). Postpartum depression among Israeli Bedouin women. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 14(3), 203–208.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Levav, I., Al-Krenawi, A., Ifrah, A., Geraisy, N., Grinshpoon, A., Khwaled, R., et al. (2007). Common mental disorders among Arab-Israelis: findings from the Israel National Health Survey. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 44, 104–113.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Kaplan, G., Glasser, S., Murad, H., Atamna, A., Alpert, G., Goldbourt, U., et al. (2010). Depression among Arabs and Jews in Israel: A population-based study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 45, 931–939.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Palti, H., Gofin, R., & Adler, B. (2004). Evaluation of utilization of preventive services for infants in Israel—personal and organizational determinants. Harefuah, 143(3), 184–188 (in Hebrew; English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Glasser, S. (2010). Postpartum depression: A chronicle of health policy development. Israel Journal of Psychiatry (in press).

  31. Cox, J. L., Holden, J. M., & Sagovsky, R. (1987). Detection of postnatal depression: Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 782–786.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Cox, J. L., & Holden, J. (2003). A guide to the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. London: Gaskell.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Ghubash, R., Abou-Saleh, M. T., & Daradkeh, T. K. (1997). The validity of the Arabic Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 32, 474–476.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Murray, L., & Carothers, A. D. (1990). The validation of the Edinburgh Post-natal Depression Scale on a community sample. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 288–290.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. SAS Institute Inc. (2001). SAS release version 8.12. Cary NC.

  36. Limlomwongse, N., & Liabsuetrakul, T. (2006). Cohort study of depressive moods in Thai women during late pregnancy and 6–8 weeks of postpartum using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 9, 131–138.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Josefsson, A., Berg, G., Nordin, C., & Sydsjo, G. (2001). Prevalence of depressive symptoms in late pregnancy and postpartum. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 80, 251–255.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Glasser, S. (2010). Postpartum depression: Early identification in primary health care services in Israel. In: O. Sarid, D. Segan-Engelchin, & J. Cwikel (Eds.), Mind-body mosaic—women’s health in Israel. Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheba, Israel (in Hebrew; English abstract).

  39. Matthey, S., & Barnett, B. (1997). Translation and validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale into Vietnamese and Arabic. In B. Ferguson & D. Barnes (Eds.), Perspectives on transcultural mental health. Sydney: Transcultural Mental Health Center.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Ghubash, R., & Eapen, V. (2009). Postpartum mental illness: Perspectives from an Arabian Gulf population. Psychological Reports, 105, 127–136.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Pessate-Shubert, A. (2003). Changing from the margins: Bedouin women and higher education in Israel. Women’s Studies International Forum, 26, 285–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Leigh, B., & Milgrom, J. (2009). Risk factors for antenatal depression, postnatal depression and parenting stress. BMC Psychiatry, 16, 8–24.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Beck, C. T. (2001). Predictors of postpartum depression: An update. Nursing Research, 50, 275–285.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Dindar, I., & Erdogan, S. (2007). Screening of Turkish women for postpartum depression within the first postnatal year: The risk profile of a community sample. Public Health Nursing, 24(2), 176–183.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. El-Khoury, N., Karam, E. G., & Melhem, N. M. (1999). Depression and pregnancy. The Lebanese Medical Journal, 47,169–174. Abstract available: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10550941 1/24/2010. Accessed October 20, 2010.

  46. Goyal, D., Gay, C., & Lee, K. A. (2010). How much does low socioeconomic status increase the risk of prenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms in first-time mothers? Womens Health Issues, 20, 96–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Biliszta, J. L., Gu, Y. Z., Meyer, D., & Buist, A. E. (2008). A geographic comparison of the prevalence and risk factors for postnatal depression in an Australian population. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 32, 424–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Dankner, R., Goldberg, R. P., Fisch, R. Z., & Crum, R. M. (2000). Cultural elements of postpartum depression: A study of 327 Jewish Jerusalem women. Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 45, 97–103.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Mann, J. R., McKeown, R., Bacon, J., Vesselinov, R., & Bush, F. (2008). Do antenatal religious and spiritual factors impact the risk of postpartum depressive symptoms? Journal of Womens Health, 17, 745–755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Glasse, S., & Barell, V. (1999). Depression scale for research and identification of postpartum depression. Harefua, 136, 764–768 (in Hebrew; English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  51. Katznelson, S. K., Maizel, S., Zilber, N., & Lerner, Y. (2000). Validation of the Hebrew version of the Edinburgh Depression Scale: Methods, results and application. In 10th meeting of the Israel Psychiatric Association, Jerusalem, Israel.

  52. Small, R., Lumley, J., Yelland, J., & Brown, S. (2007). The performance of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale in English speaking and non-English speaking populations in Australia. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 42(1), 70–78.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Fonte, J., & Horton-Deutsch, S. (2006). Treating postpartum depression in immigrant Muslim women. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 11, 39–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Klainin, P., & Arthur, D. G. (2009). Postpartum depression in Asian cultures: A literature review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46, 1353–1373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Abiodun, O. A. (2006). Postnatal depression in primary care populations in Nigeria. General Hospital Psychiatry, 28(2), 133–136.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Ekuklu, G., Tokuc, B., Eskiocak, M., Berberoglu, U., & Saltik, A. (2004). Prevalence of postpartum depression in Edirne, Turkey, and related factors. Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 49(11), 908–914.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Gausia, K., Fisher, C., Ali, M., & Oosthuizen, J. (2009). Magnitude and contributory factors of postnatal depression: A community-based cohort study from a rural subdistrict of Bangladesh. Psychological Medicine, 39(6), 999–1007.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Kheirabadi, G. R., Maacy, M. R., Barekatain, M., Salehi, M., Sadri, G. H., Kelishadi, M., et al. (2009). Risk factors of postpartum depression in rural areas of Isfahan Province, Iran. Archives of Iranian Medicine, 12, 461–467.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Nahas, V. L., Hillege, S., & Amasheh, N. (1999). Postpartum l depression: The lived experiences of Middle Eastern migrant women in Australia. The Journal of Nurse and Midwifery, 44, 65–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Rodrigues, M., Patel, V., Jaswal, S., & de Souza, N. (2003). Listening to mothers: Qualitative studies on motherhood and depression from Goa, India. Social Science and Medicine, 57(10), 1797–1806.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Xie, R. H., He, G., Liu, A., Bradwejn, J., Walker, M., & Wen, S. W. (2007). Fetal gender and postpartum depression in a cohort of Chinese women. Social Science and Medicine, 65(4), 680–684.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all of the MCHC clinic nurses who have integrated into their routine care EPDS screening and intervention, when necessary. The authors also wish to thank Mr. Raphael Rosenbaum for valuable editorial assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychosocial Aspects of Health, Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, 52621, Tel Hashomer, Israel

    Saralee Glasser & Giora Kaplan

  2. Acre Sub-District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Acre, Israel

    Mary Tanous & Shihab Shihab

  3. Department of Sociology, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel

    Nofar Goldman

  4. Information and Computerization Unit, Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel

    Arnona Ziv

Authors
  1. Saralee Glasser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mary Tanous
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shihab Shihab
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nofar Goldman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Arnona Ziv
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Giora Kaplan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saralee Glasser.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Glasser, S., Tanous, M., Shihab, S. et al. Perinatal Depressive Symptoms Among Arab Women in Northern Israel. Matern Child Health J 16, 1197–1205 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-011-0845-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-011-0845-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation