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Updated: Jul 26, 2025

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

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Social determinants of perinatal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Kodi Endres1, Katherine Haigler2, Marissa Sbrilli3

  • 1Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.

General Hospital Psychiatry
|June 19, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Social-structural factors significantly impact perinatal mental health for all child-bearers. Pandemic employment stressors disproportionately affected BIPOC child-bearers, highlighting disparities in mental health resources.

Area of Science:

  • Social epidemiology
  • Perinatal mental health research
  • Health disparities

Background:

  • Perinatal mental health is influenced by social-structural determinants.
  • Existing research often overlooks the unique stressors faced by diverse child-bearing populations.
  • Health disparities in perinatal mental health persist, necessitating further investigation into contributing factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine material and social resources and pandemic employment stressors as determinants of perinatal mental health in White and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) child-bearers.
  • To investigate how these social-structural factors contribute to perinatal mental health symptoms.
  • To identify potential racial/ethnic disparities in the impact of these determinants.

Main Methods:

  • A community sample of 409 pregnant and 122 new parents in Illinois completed online questionnaires between May 2020 and June 2021.
  • Multiple regression models were used to analyze the relationships between composite measures of social-structural determinants and mental health symptoms.
  • Moderated effects by race/ethnic identification were tested to explore differential impacts.

Main Results:

  • All examined social determinants, particularly social resources, showed significant associations with mental health outcomes.
  • While no moderated effects of resource composites were found, the association between reduced pandemic employment resources and mental health symptoms was stronger in BIPOC child-bearers compared to White child-bearers.
  • Social resources emerged as the most significant factor influencing mental health in the study sample.

Conclusions:

  • Both long-term social-structural factors and acute crisis-related changes significantly affect perinatal mental health.
  • Resource availability and impact play a role in explaining racial/ethnic disparities in perinatal mental health.
  • Findings support the development of enhanced screening, prevention, and policy recommendations to improve perinatal health outcomes and reduce disparities.
Abstract

Keywords:
PerinatalRacial disparitiesSocial determinants of mental health

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