Abstract
Purpose
Mental health problems disproportionately affect women, particularly during the childbearing
years. However, there is a paucity of research on the determinants of postpartum mental
health problems using representative US populations. Taking a life course perspective,
we determined the potential risk factors for postpartum mental health problems, with
a particular focus on the role of mental health before and during pregnancy.
Methods
We examined data on 1,863 mothers from 11 panels of the 1996–2006 Medical Expenditure
Panel Survey. Poor postpartum mental health was defined using self-reports of mental
health conditions, symptoms of mental health conditions, or global mental health ratings
of “fair” or “poor.”
Results
Of the women included, 9.5% reported experiencing postpartum mental health problems,
with over half of these women reporting a history of poor mental health. Poor prepregnancy
mental health and poor antepartum mental health both independently increased the odds
of having postpartum mental health problems. Staged multivariate analyses revealed
that poor antepartum mental health attenuated the relationship between prepregnancy
and postpartum mental health problems. Additionally, significant disparities exist
in women’s report of postpartum mental health status.
Conclusion
Although poor antepartum mental health is the strongest predictor of postpartum mental
health problems, prepregnancy mental health is also important. Accordingly, health
care providers should identify, treat, and follow women with a history of poor mental
health because they are particularly susceptible to postpartum mental health problems.
This will ensure that women and their children are in the best possible health and
mental health during the postpartum period and beyond.
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Biography
Whitney P. Witt, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the School of Medicine and Public Health at University of Wisconsin, Madison and the Co-Director of BioPop: Integrative Biopsychosocial Research in Population Health.
Biography
Lauren E. Wisk, BS, is a doctoral student in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the School of Medicine and Public Health at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Biography
Erika R. Cheng, BS, is a doctoral student in the Department of Population Health Sciences and a master's student at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Biography
John M. Hampton, MS, is a researcher and statistician for the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Biography
Paul D. Creswell, BA, is a doctoral student in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the School of Medicine and Public Health at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Biography
Erika W. Hagen, PhD, MS, is a researcher in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the School of Medicine and Public Health at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Biography
Hilary A. Spear, BA, is a nursing student in the College of Nursing at the University of Colorado, Denver.
Biography
Torsheika Maddox, MS, is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology and a master's student in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Biography
Thomas DeLeire, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences, the La Follette School of Public Affairs, and the Department of Economics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the interim Director of the Population Health Institute.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 25, 2011
Accepted:
January 7,
2011
Received in revised form:
December 8,
2010
Received:
September 9,
2010
Footnotes
TD was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (3 U01 PE000003-06). EWH was supported by NIH (T32 HD049302; PI: Sarto). LEW was supported by a grant from the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin, Madison (PI: Witt) and a pre-doctoral NRSA Training Grant (T32 HS00083; PI: Smith). TM was supported by grants from the Center for Demography and Ecology (R24 HD047873) Center for Demography of Health and Aging (P30 AG17266), and a NIA Training Grant (T32 AG00129). WPW and TD received funding from the University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty to complete this research.
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
