Reciprocal Influence of Depressive Symptoms Between Mothers and Fathers During the First Postpartum Year: A Comparison Among Full-Term, Very Low, and Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants.

Erica Neri,Mariagrazia Benassi,Sara Giovagnoli,Federica Genova,Marcello Stella,Francesca Agostini

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.578264

Erica Neri, Mariagrazia Benassi + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.578264

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Abstract

Background: Perinatal depression (PND) in mothers and fathers of very low and extremely low birth weight (VLBW and ELBW) infants has not been studied extensively. In particular, no studies investigated the reciprocal influence of depressive symptoms during the first 12 months postpartum. This study aimed at exploring the impact of the severity of prematurity on maternal and paternal PND during the first postpartum year; specifically, we used an Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) to test the interdependence of both partners on depressive symptoms.Methods: A total of 177 mothers and 177 fathers were recruited, divided into 38 couples with ELBW infants, 56 with VLBW, and 83 of full-term (FT) infants. PND was evaluated by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 3, 9, and 12 months postpartum (corrected age for preterm infants).Results: Maternal depressive symptoms at 3 months were positively related to those at 9 and 12 months in the 3 groups. Conversely, paternal depressive symptoms assessed at 3 months were positively related to those measured at 9 months for the ELBW group, 12 months for the VLBW group, 9 and 12 months for FT condition. Furthermore, a significantly positive partner effect was observed regarding the influence of 3 month maternal depressive symptoms on paternal depressive symptoms at 9 months, but only in the case of the VLBW group.Conclusion: Prematurity represents a very specific scenario in the transition to parenthood, leading to specific reactions in mothers and fathers, especially in high-risk conditions. Results should be deepened given the relevance of their clinical implications.

Highlights

Perinatal depression (PND) is a serious mental disorder, characterized by onset during pregnancy and/or within a year after childbirth [1] and including symptoms such as mood liability, insomnia, disorganized behavior, irritability, and agitation [2]
extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and very low birth weight (VLBW) groups were recruited at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Bufalini Hospital (Cesena, Italy), while the FT group was recruited at the antenatal classes held at Health Services in the same town
Descriptive analyses showed an overall homogeneity among the 3 birth weight groups, except for parity and maternal education variables (Table 1): VLBW mothers were primiparous in a lower percentage, compared to FT and ELBW ones; ELBW mothers showed a lower educational level compared to VLBW and FT mothers

Summary

Introduction

Perinatal depression (PND) is a serious mental disorder, characterized by onset during pregnancy and/or within a year after childbirth [1] and including symptoms such as mood liability, insomnia, disorganized behavior, irritability, and agitation [2]. The stress experienced can reach such a high intensity that it represents a traumatic experience, in some cases satisfying the criteria to diagnose a post-traumatic stress disorder [17,18,19]. Both preterm infants’ mothers and fathers may experience high levels of depressive symptoms that could persist [9, 15, 20]. An increased interest has been paid to PND in preterm babies’ fathers: to our knowledge, studies are sparse and investigated depressive symptomatology only at 3 months postpartum, reporting 0–6% as a range of prevalence [14, 25]. This study aimed at exploring the impact of the severity of prematurity on maternal and paternal PND during the first postpartum year; we used an Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) to test the interdependence of both partners on depressive symptoms

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