Social support, temperament and previous prenatal loss interact to predict depression and anxiety during pregnancy

Pregnancy is considered a complex period in a woman's life due to the changes that occur at different levels, which increase her vulnerability to developing psychological symptoms. A woman's temperament and perceived social support may play important roles in the development of such symptomatology. The main objective of the present work was to evaluate whether social support is an effective coping resource against the development of symptoms of depression and anxiety, especially among women with certain personality types, while also considering previous prenatal losses.

The participants were 534 pregnant women in their 26th week of gestation. They completed measures related to social support, temperament (i.e. neuroticism and extraversion) and symptoms of depression and anxiety and informed us of any previous prenatal losses.

The association between social support and depression was negative only for women who scored high on neuroticism. Extraversion did not interact with social support to predict depression or anxiety. Additionally, temperament interacted with previous prenatal losses, playing a relevant role in the development of anxiety symptoms. Previous losses had a greater effect on women who scored low in extraversion or high in neuroticism. Finally, a triple interaction between temperament, social support and previous prenatal loss emerged, indicating that previous prenatal loss was related to anxiety in women with low social support and low extraversion.

Pregnant women, especially those who have suffered a previous prenatal loss and score high in neuroticism or low in extraversion, may benefit from interventions that enhance social support.