The Relationship between Personality and Depression in Expectant Parents

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Perinatal Mental Health

Background:

• Previous research indicates a link between depression and personality traits.
• Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality, assessed via the TCI-R, provides a framework for understanding these relationships.
• The perinatal period is a critical time for mental health assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between depression and personality dimensions in expectant parents.
• To compare personality profiles and depression levels between pregnant women and their partners.
• To identify specific temperament and character predictors of depression during late pregnancy.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 65 pregnant women and 37 expectant fathers in their last trimester.
• Utilized the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised Form (TCI-R) to assess personality.
• Employed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to measure depressive symptoms.

Main Results:

• Pregnant women reported higher depression, reward dependence, and self-transcendence than expectant fathers.
• In pregnant women, harm avoidance and self-directedness significantly predicted depression levels.
• For expectant fathers, only self-directedness emerged as a significant predictor of depression.

Conclusions:

• Low self-directedness is a robust predictor of depression in both expectant mothers and fathers.
• High harm avoidance is an additional significant risk factor for depression specifically in pregnant women.
• Understanding these personality-trait-depression links is crucial for perinatal mental health support.