Optimistic outlook regarding maternity protects against depressive symptoms postpartum

Abstract

Purpose The transition to motherhood is a time of elevated risk for clinical depression. Dispositional optimism may be protective against depressive symptoms; however the arrival of a newborn presents numerous challenges that may be at odds with initially positive expectations, and which may contribute to depressed mood. We have explored the relative contributions of antenatal and postnatal optimism regarding maternity to depressive symptoms in the postnatal period. Methods 98 pregnant women underwent clinician interview in the third trimester to record psychiatric history, antenatal depressive symptoms, and administer a novel measure of optimism towards maternity. Measures of depressive symptoms, attitudes to maternity, and mother-to-infant bonding were obtained from 97 study completers at monthly intervals through three months postpartum. Results We found a positive effect of antenatal optimism, and a negative effect of postnatal disconfirmation of expectations, on depressive mood postnatally. Postnatal disconfirmation, but not antenatal optimism, was associated with more negative attitudes toward maternity postnatally. Antenatal optimism, but not postnatal disconfirmation, was associated with reduced scores on a mother-to-infant bonding measure. The relationships between antenatal optimism, postnatal disconfirmation of expectations, and postnatal depression held true among primigravidas and multigravidas, as well as among women with prior histories of mood disorders, although antenatal optimism tended to be lower among women with mental health histories. Conclusions We conclude that cautious antenatal optimism, rather than immoderate optimism or frank pessimism, is the approach that is most protective against postnatal depressive symptoms, and that this is true irrespective of either mood disorder history or parity. Factors predisposing to negative cognitive assessments and impaired mother-to-infant bonding may be substantially different than those associated with depressive symptoms, a finding that merits further study.

The mediating role of optimism and resilience on emotional distress in infertility: an integrative literature review

“…The other approach supports the idea that people's expectations for the future arise from their interpretations of the past and how they give meaning to the things that happened to them [76] Over the past 30 years, the body of research related to dispositional optimism has become increasingly rich, in particular that showing correlations between dispositional optimism and subjective well-being [19] , for instance self-esteem, positive emotions, and life satisfaction [15,[24][25] . On the other hand, negative correlations have been found between dispositional optimism and negative emotions, anxiety, and depression [10,16,[26][27] . Optimism is a very stable trait.…”

“…The review showed statistically significant effec-ts on survival of all-cause mortality in general population, cardiovascular outcomes, immune function, and cancer and pregnancy outcomes. Optimism has also been associated with lower depression symptoms at initial assessment during pregnancy and postpartum, to which optimism therefore appears to yield resistance [16,[33][34] .…”

“…This is particularly relevant to clinical psychology once it is associated with the risk of developing a psychopathology, not only at the individual but also at the social level [11][12] . Moreover, optimism is inversely related to hopelessness, a well-known risk factor for depressive disorders [13][14][15][16][17] . Similarly, it seems to confer resilience to stressful life events, and this resilience is associated with both onset and recurrence of various psychopathologies [18][19] .…”

Comparing Web-Based Mindfulness With Loving-Kindness and Compassion Training for Promoting Well-Being in Pregnancy: Protocol for a Three-Arm Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

“…For example, although a history of psychiatric symptoms predisposes individuals to future psychopathology, positive mental health both supports recovery from distress and protects against poor mental health in the future [ 22 - 25 ]. Studies with pregnant women have found that prenatal positive mental health traits such as positive affect and optimism are protective of postpartum depression [ 26 , 27 ] and birth outcomes such as preterm delivery [ 28 ]. A dual approach aligns with two-factor models of mental health, which recognize distress and well-being as 2 distinct but interrelated continua [ 22 , 29 , 30 ].…”

Increased systemic microbial translocation is associated with depression during early pregnancy

“…Peripartum depression is a debilitating mood disorder that occurs in 8–15% of childbearing women (Byatt et al, 2016; Robakis et al, 2015). Although several psychosocial risk factors have been identified, a substantial proportion of the risk for the disorder remains unexplained and biological contributors are unclear (Babb et al, 2015).…”