The Relationship of Postpartum Acute Stress With Perceived Social Support on and Depression Symptom Level

Abstract

Purpose:The research was conducted to determine the relationship between postpartum acute stress, social support and depressive symptom level and depression. Patients and Methods:This descriptive study was conducted with 280 primiparous women who childbirth in a public hospital in Istanbul. The data were collected by general information form, Acute Stress Symptom Severity Scale (National Stressful Events Survey Acute Stress Disorder Short Scale-NSESSS), Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The data were analysed by the SPSS program. Results:The mean age of the women included in the study was 24.75 ± 4.75, 13.6% of the women worked regularly, 62.1% lived in the small family, 19.3% experienced at least one traumatic event during their life, 2.9% had a history of domestic violence and 60.4% had normal vaginal birth. The total score point mean for NSESSS was found to be statistically significant, higher in the event of domestic violence (p<0.05) and lower in the case of breastfeeding the baby only (p<0.05) It was found that the women in the study had increased the level of acute stress as the social support level decreased (p<0.05) and the depressive symptoms increased as the acute stress level increased (p<0.05) Conclusion:It was determined that women\'s lack of social support increased the level of acute stress symptoms and depressive symptoms increased as acute stress increased. Therefore, especially women with low social support and other risky women should be closely follow-up by healthcare professionals in the postpartum period.