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Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
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Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants

Published on: June 13, 2021

Experience of pregnancy and delivery as predictors of postpartum depression

Alan Tuohy1, Cynthia McVey

  • 1Department of Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow, UK. aptu@gcal.ac.uk

Psychology, Health & Medicine
|December 11, 2007
PubMed

This research examined experiences of pregnancy and delivery as predictors of three subscales identified within the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (nonspecific depression, anhedonia, and anxiety). Mothers of babies under 1 year (N = 415) completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and gave information as to number of pregnancies, number of children, and their ratings of the difficulty of the course of pregnancy and delivery. Number of pregnancies and number of children did not predict scores on any of these subscales. Difficulty in the course of pregnancy was a significant positive predictor of nonspecific depression, and difficulty of delivery was a significant positive predictor of anxiety. Neither of these variables significantly predicted anhedonia. These results provide evidence of the heterogeneity of postpartum depression, indicating that risk factors differentially influence subscales of the EPDS.

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