Parental divorce in childhood does not independently predict maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy

Elviira Porthan,Linnea Karlsson,Eeva Ekholm,Hasse Karlsson,Noora M Scheinin,Juho Härkönen,Matti Lindberg

doi:10.1186/s12884-020-03227-w

Abstract

BackgroundThis study sought to investigate if parental divorce in childhood increases the risk for depressive symptoms in pregnancy.MethodsWomen were recruited during their ultrasound screening in gestational week (gwk) 12. The final study sample consisted of 2,899 pregnant women. Questionnaires (including the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) were completed at three measurement points (gwk 14, 24 and 34). Prenatal depressive symptoms were defined as Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score ≥ 13. Parental divorce and other stressful life events in childhood were assessed at gwk 14. Parental divorce was defined as separation of parents who were married or cohabiting. Questionnaire data was supplemented with data from Statistics Finland and the Finnish Medical Birth Register.ResultsParental divorce in childhood increased the risk for depressive symptoms during pregnancy (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.02–2.13), but the connection was no longer significant after adjusting for socioeconomic status, family conflicts and witnessing domestic violence in the childhood family (OR 0.80; 95% CI 0.54–1.18).ConclusionsParental divorce alone does not predict depressive symptoms during pregnancy.

Highlights

This study sought to investigate if parental divorce in childhood increases the risk for depressive symptoms in pregnancy
The aim of the FinnBrain study is to investigate the effect of environmental and genetic factors on later child health outcomes. 3,808 women living in Southwest Finland or the Åland islands were enlisted between December 2011 and April 2015 during their ultrasound screening in gestational week 12
In contrast to many studies in general adult populations, there is no association between parental divorce and depressive symptoms during pregnancy after controlling for socioeconomic class, conflicts, and violence in the childhood family

Summary

Introduction

This study sought to investigate if parental divorce in childhood increases the risk for depressive symptoms in pregnancy. Depression affects 7–20% of women at some point during pregnancy [1,2,3]. Identifying predisposing factors can help to identify women at risk of depression. Previous research has found that predisposing factors include history of depression [14, 15], traumatic and other adverse childhood events [16, 17], life stress, unintended pregnancy, lack of social support, domestic violence, low income [15] and single marital status [18, 19]

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion