- Title
- The role of premenstrual symptoms in the relationship between perceived social support and postnatal depression: an analysis of data from the Australian longitudinal study of women’s health
- Creator
- Bracken, Sophia
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2023
- Description
- Masters Coursework - Master of Clinical Psychology (MClinPsych)
- Description
- Background: Postnatal depression (PND) is a prevalent mental health condition which can have detrimental effects on people who gave birth and their children. People with pre-pregnancy pre-menstrual symptoms (PMS) are more vulnerable to developing PND and it is unclear whether social support may be a protective factor for these people. This study aims to investigate whether pre-pregnancy PMS alters the relationship between perceived social support in the six months postpartum and the likelihood of developing PND. Methods: This study included 832 primiparous participants from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) 1973-78 and 1989-95 cohorts. PMS, social support and PND were measured using self-report surveys. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore the role of pre-pregnancy PMS by testing its interaction with social support in predicting PND likelihood. Results: 10.6% of participants reported PND and 57% reported experiencing pre-pregnancy PMS (43.0% never, 18.4% rarely, 25.7% sometimes, 12.9% often). Participants who reported more frequent pre-pregnancy PMS and had lower perceived social support in the six months post-partum, were more likely to be diagnosed with PND. We found no evidence that pre-pregnancy PMS alters the relationship between perceived social support and PND. Conclusions: This study reinforces the importance of identifying pre-pregnancy PMS as a significant risk factor for PND and highlights the role of perceived social support as a protective factor against PND. These findings support the potential value of interventions targeting social support for people at risk of PND, including those with pre-pregnancy PMS. Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of increasing perceived social support in reducing PND in people with pre-pregnancy PMS.
- Subject
- postnatal depression; pre-menstrual symptoms; social support; longitudinal research; women's health
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1492975
- Identifier
- uon:53458
- Rights
- Copyright 2023 Sophia Bracken
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 565 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 146 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |