Women's psychological health according to their maternal status: a study in France

Abstract

This study explored the extent to which the psychological distress of women is related to their motherhood status. A representative sample of 6970 women, aged 20–59, living in France, was interviewed. This analysis was restricted to the 2799 women aged between 25 and 39, 307 of whom had had a baby in the last year. Several indicators of psychological distress were used, including the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, psychotropic drug use and suicide attempts. Women with babies under the age of 12 months presented no more psychological problems than the other women. The proportion of respondents with scores above 5 for the GHQ was 8.7% for mothers with young babies, 11.4% for mothers of an older child and 12.0% for childless women. Adjusting for age, education, employment and couple status, no differences were observed between the three groups of women, except for a lower level of psychotropic drug use among the mothers of young babies. Overall, regardless of maternal status, a high proportion of women showed symptoms of anxiety and depression. Thus, research and clinical efforts should focus on risk factors for psychological distress in women and on preventive measures beyond the post-partum period.