Impact of unintended pregnancy on maternal mental health: a causal analysis using follow up data of the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC)

Abstract

BackgroundPregnancy intention is important for maternal and child health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the causal relation between pregnancy intention and maternal depression and parenting stress in Korean women who gave birth during 2008.MethodsThis study is a retrospective evaluation of prospectively collected data from the Panel Study on Korean Children from 2008 to 2010. Causal analyses were conducted using propensity score matching and inverse probability of treatment weighted methods. In addition, mediation analyses were performed to test mitigating effects of marital conflict, fathers’ participation in childcare, and mothers’ knowledge of infant development on the relation between unintended pregnancy and adverse maternal mental health.ResultsResults showed that the overall effect of an unintended pregnancy on maternal depression and parenting stress was statistically significant. An unintended pregnancy was associated with 20–22% greater odds of maternal depression, 0.28–0.39 greater depression score, and 0.85–1.16 greater parenting stress score. Relations between pregnancy intention and maternal depression, maternal depression score and parenting stress score were moderately explained by marital conflict and fathers’ participation in childcare.ConclusionsUnintended pregnancy contributed to increased risks of maternal depression and parenting stress. Efforts to increase fathers’ participation in childcare and decrease marital conflict might be helpful to mitigate adverse impacts of unintended pregnancy on perinatal maternal mental health.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-015-0505-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Association Between Unintended Births and Poor Child Development in India: Evidence from a Longitudinal Study

“…Pregnancy intention may affect parents' attitudes and behaviors toward their children, which eventually may lead to adverse impacts on child development (Bahk et al 2015). For example, a woman with an unintended pregnancy is more likely to smoke and consume alcohol and less likely to receive antenatal care and consume iron and folic acid tablets during pregnancy (Han, Nava-Ocampo, and Koren 2005;Dott et al 2010;McCrory and McNally 2013).…”

The Relationship Between Unwanted Pregnancy with Mother and Father Attachment to Infant

“…Guterman et al found unplanned pregnancy as the predictor for child maltreatment by parent (12,34). The study results of McCrocry et al and Bahk et al indicated that unwanted pregnancy causes the increase of parents' stress score, depression in mothers, and decrease of fathers' participation in taking care of Interval between the two recent pregnancies 3 ± 3. the child (29,35). However, the study of Miller (7), Ispa (8) observed that there is no correlation between unwanted pregnancy and attachment to the child.…”

“…There are only Few studies which have focused on the father's attachment (15,26,27) and they have focused mostly on father's participation. In some studies, there was a negative relationship between unwanted pregnancy and father's participation in taking care of infants (28,29) and their attachment to their teenagers in future (16). Since an important part of a natural infant growth in the breastfeeding period depends on emotional reactions between parents and the infant, and due to the rather high prevalence of unwanted pregnancy, as a behavioral-hygienic issue (30,31), and the probability of its relationship with parents-to-infant attachment, the current study was designed to determine the relationship in Ahvaz city.…”

Profiles and characteristics of bronchial responsiveness in general 7‐year‐old children

“…The study population was the participants of a nationwide general population‐based birth cohort study (Panel Study on Korean Children, PSKC) . In the beginning, 2078 mother‐baby dyads were recruited using a two‐step stratified random sampling in 2008, and they were followed every year.…”

“…The study population was the participants of a nationwide general population-based birth cohort study (Panel Study on Korean Children, PSKC). 15 In the beginning, 2078 mother-baby dyads were recruited using a two-step stratified random sampling in 2008, and they were followed every year. Since 2014, the annual survey included items on allergy and, in 2015, participants were invited to 16 nationwide regional study hospitals to establish reference values of Korean 7-year-old children on the basic respiratory or allergy tests This reanalysis on the bronchial provocation results was approved by a separate protocol (IRB no.…”