{"title":"The Role of Maternal Perceived Social Support on the Relation Between Prenatal Depressive Symptoms and Labor Experience","authors":"F. Tani, Simon Ghinassi, L. Ponti","doi":"10.1027/2512-8442/a000103","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Background: Depression during pregnancy is a severe risk factor for negative outcomes in women and children. In particular, prenatal symptoms of depression are linked to a more complicated labor experience, characterized by more painful labor and more frequent recourse to epidural analgesia and/or oxytocin. Although this link is evident, less is known about possible mediators of this relationship. Aims: This study investigated the mediating role of perceived maternal social support on the relationship between prenatal maternal depression and labor experience. Methods: Participants were 152 Italian nulliparous women ( Mage = 31.68 years, SD = 4.94). Data were collected at two different times: T1 (at week 30–33 of gestation) women completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Maternal Social Support Scale; T2 (at childbirth) clinical data regarding labor was registered from hospital records (duration of labor in hours and administration of oxytocin and epidural analgesia in hours). Results: The Structural Equation Modeling showed that prenatal symptoms of depression are linked to a more complicated labor experience (β = .31, p < .001). However, the quality of the maternal social support can mediate this relationship (indirect effect: β = .17, p < .000). Limitations: The complexity of the proposed model, the characteristics of the sample, the variables investigated, and the questionnaires used are discussed. Conclusion: The perception of having a good social network is an important predictor of women’s health in the transition to motherhood, decreasing the negative effect of maternal prenatal depressive symptoms on the quality of women’s labor experience.","PeriodicalId":51983,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Health Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2021-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Health Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1027/2512-8442/a000103","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract. Background: Depression during pregnancy is a severe risk factor for negative outcomes in women and children. In particular, prenatal symptoms of depression are linked to a more complicated labor experience, characterized by more painful labor and more frequent recourse to epidural analgesia and/or oxytocin. Although this link is evident, less is known about possible mediators of this relationship. Aims: This study investigated the mediating role of perceived maternal social support on the relationship between prenatal maternal depression and labor experience. Methods: Participants were 152 Italian nulliparous women ( Mage = 31.68 years, SD = 4.94). Data were collected at two different times: T1 (at week 30–33 of gestation) women completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Maternal Social Support Scale; T2 (at childbirth) clinical data regarding labor was registered from hospital records (duration of labor in hours and administration of oxytocin and epidural analgesia in hours). Results: The Structural Equation Modeling showed that prenatal symptoms of depression are linked to a more complicated labor experience (β = .31, p < .001). However, the quality of the maternal social support can mediate this relationship (indirect effect: β = .17, p < .000). Limitations: The complexity of the proposed model, the characteristics of the sample, the variables investigated, and the questionnaires used are discussed. Conclusion: The perception of having a good social network is an important predictor of women’s health in the transition to motherhood, decreasing the negative effect of maternal prenatal depressive symptoms on the quality of women’s labor experience.
期刊介绍:
Die "Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie" wurde gegründet, um dem raschen Anwachsen gesundheitspsychologischer Forschung sowie deren Relevanz für verschiedene Anwendungsfelder gerecht zu werden. Gesundheitspsychologie versteht sich als wissenschaftlicher Beitrag der Psychologie zur Förderung und Erhaltung von Gesundheit, zur Verhütung und Behandlung von Krankheiten, zur Bestimmung von Risikoverhaltensweisen, zur Diagnose und Ursachenbestimmung von gesundheitlichen Störungen sowie zur Verbessung des Systems gesundheitlicher Vorsorge.