Does pain after delivery unequivocally lead to postpartum depression? The moderating role of religious coping

The objective of this work is to explore whether the relationship between pain after delivery and postpartum depression is increased or decreased by the use of religion as a coping strategy (moderation).

A longitudinal cohort study was conducted. The sample was evaluated on three occasions: third trimester of pregnancy (religious coping), after birth (pain severity) and four months after delivery (postpartum depression). Participants were 122 women (mean age = 31.29; SD = 4.9: range = [22, 42 years]) with low obstetric risk.

Both pain severity and religious coping contributed to postpartum depression (r = .20, p = .029 and r = .28, p = .04, respectively). Religious coping exacerbated the relationship between pain after delivery and postpartum depression (B = -0.11, t = -2.48, p = .014, [-0.20, -0.02]). Depression was highest in participants using religious coping irrespective of pain severity levels.

These findings support the importance of person-environment interaction studies and provide new evidence on the deleterious role of religious coping in the well-being of women after childbirth.