Associations of job type, income, and education with postpartum depressive symptoms: The Kyushu Okinawa Maternal and Child Health Study

Abstract

Epidemiological evidence on the role of socioeconomic status on postpartum depressive symptoms has been inconsistent. The present prospective study investigated the relationship between employment, job type, income, and education and postpartum depressive symptoms. Subjects were 1316 Japanese women. The subjects were asked to complete an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) between three and four months postpartum. Postpartum depressive symptoms were defined as EPDS score ≥ 9. The prevalence of postpartum depressive symptoms was 8.2%. Compared with unemployment, holding a sales job was independently related to a reduced risk of postpartum depressive symptoms: the adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 0.13 (95% CI: 0.01−0.66). Compared with a household income under four million yen per year, a household income of six million yen or more per year was independently inversely associated with postpartum depressive symptoms: the adjusted OR was 0.33 (95% CI: 0.16−0.63). Compared with less than 13 years of education, both 13 or 14 years and 15 years or more were independently inversely related to postpartum depressive symptoms: the adjusted ORs were 0.40 (95% CI: 0.23−0.69) and 0.48 (95% CI: 0.28−0.82), respectively. Holding a sales job, higher household income and higher educational levels may be inversely associated with postpartum depressive symptoms.