Depressive symptoms in black and Puerto Rican adolescent mothers in the first 3 years postpartum

Abstract

While depressive symptoms in adolescent mothers may affect both their own and their babies' development, little research has focused on the mothers. Self-reported symptoms on the Beck Depression Inventory were collected at 1, 6, 12, and 28–36 months postpartum. Concurrent and reciprocal longitudinal relations among symptom levels, stressful life events, and social supports were investigated. Symptom levels declined over the four assessments, with changes in somatic, rather than cognitive affective, symptoms accounting for the decrease. Stressful life events and all sources of social supports predicted concurrent levels of depressive symptoms, but only social supports predicted declines in symptoms in the first year postpartum. Reciprocally, depressive symptoms tended (p = .06) to predict increases in stressful life events over time. Mothers were also categorized as reporting few (50%), intermittent (27.5%), or chronic (22.5%) symptoms in the first 12 months postpartum. Intermittently and chronically depressed mothers perceived their own mothers as less accepting than nondepressed mothers. Compared to nondepressed and intermittently depressed mothers, chronically depressed mothers also reported more stressful life events, were more likely to live alone, and experienced more moves by 28–36 months postpartum. The reciprocal causal relations among depressive symptoms, stress, and attachments to grandmothers and peers are discussed.

Risk for maternal depression and child aggression in Early Head Start families: A test of ecological models

“…Higher levels of partner support predicting better maternal functioning is consistent with the literature ͑Contreras, 2004; Leadbeater & Linares, 1992͒. With regard to a different but related construct, father involvement, data are mixed.…”

Patterns of emotional availability among young mothers and their infants: A dydaic, contextual analysis

“…For example, there is ample evidence that adolescent mothers, as a group, experience high levels of depressive symptoms, with rates of moderate to severe depressive symptoms from 30 to 60% (Crockenberg, 1987;Field, Healy, Goldstein, & Guthertz, 1990;Leadbeater & Linares, 1992). These symptoms seem to be more than a transient adjustment to motherhood.…”

Teenage pregnancy, attachment style, and depression: A comparison of teenage and adult pregnant women in a Portuguese series

“…This is not only because of its high rate, but also because of its association with social exclusion, lower social class, and lower educational attainment in mothers (e.g., Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998;Figueiredo, Pacheco, & Magarinho, 2005;Pacheco, Costa, & Figueiredo, 2003;Social Exclusion Unit UK, 1999;Stevens-Simon & McAnarney, 1996). It is also highly associated with mothers' depression (Deal & Holtz, 1998;Hudson, Elek, & Campbell-Grossman, 2000;Leadbeater & Linares, 1992;Prodromidis, Abrams, Field, Scafidi, & Rahdert, 1994;Troutman & Cutrona, 1990) and with subsequent poor parenting of the child (e.g., Barnard, Osofsky, Beckwith, Hammond, & Appelbaum, 1996;Hann, Osofsky, & Culp, 1996), including child maltreatment and neglect (e.g., Baranowski, Schilmoeller, & Higgins, 1990;Brown, Cohen, Johnson, & Salzinger, 1998;Zuravin & DiBlasio, 1996). In terms of prevalence, the highest European fertility rates between the ages of 15 and 19 are in the UK (0.023) followed by Portugal women with poor early relationships tend to have less satisfaction and perceive lower availability of partner's support, which in turn increase vulnerability for depression during the transition to parenthood (e.g., .…”