ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: To compare the rate of postpartum depression (PPD) during the first COVID-19 lockdown with the rate observed prior to the pandemic, and to examine factors associated with PPD. METHODS: This was a prospective study. Women who gave birth during the first COVID-19 lockdown (spring 2020) were offered call-interviews at 10 days and 6-8 weeks postpartum to assess PPD using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Post-traumatic symptoms (Perinatal Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire, PPQ), couple adjustment, and interaction and mother-to-infant bonding were also evaluated. The observed PPD rate was compared to the one reported before the pandemic. Factors associated with an increased risk of PPD were studied. The main outcome measures were comparison of the observed PPD rate (EPDS score > 12) to pre-pandemic rate. RESULTS: Of the 164 women included, 27 (16.5% [95%CI: 11.14-23.04]) presented an EPDS score > 12 either at 10 days or 6-8 weeks postpartum. This rate was similar to the one of 15% reported prior to the pandemic (p = 0.6). Combined EPDS> 12 or PPQ > 6 scores were observed in 20.7% of the mothers [95%CI: 14.8-0.28]. Maternal hypertension/preeclampsia (p = 0.007), emergency cesarean section (p = 0.03), and neonatal complications (p = 0.008) were significantly associated with an EPDS> 12 both in univariate and multivariate analysis (OR = 10 [95%CI: 1.5-68.7], OR = 4.09[95%CI: 1.2-14], OR = 4.02[95%CI: 1.4-11.6], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The rate of major PPD in our population did not increase during the first lockdown period. However, 20.7% of the women presented with post-traumatic/depressive symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT04366817.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Communicable Disease Control , Depression, Postpartum , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , COVID-19/psychology , Depression, Postpartum/psychology , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Interpersonal Relations , Male , Mother-Child Relations , Pregnancy , Prospective Studies , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the relations between young children's negative emotions and their mothers' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused the public a certain degree of psychological symptoms, and family environments and relations have been changed dramatically as a result. The relations between young children's negative emotions and their mothers' mental health have not been sufficiently determined for the context of a pandemic or other large-scale crises. Method: A survey was administrated on 8119 Chinese mothers of 3- to 6-year-old children with the Symptom Checklist 90 and the Child Negative Emotion Questionnaire. Results: The canonical correlation results indicated that there were covariation trends between young children's anger and their mother's obsessive-compulsive symptoms and hostility, children's fear and mothers' phobic anxiety, and children's tension and mothers' interpersonal sensitivity and depression. These correlations were all positively significant. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the predictive power of young children's negative emotions to their mothers' mental health was greater than that of the reverse. Implications: This study provides a scientific guidance on the regulation of young children's negative emotions and the improvement of mothers' mental health during the pandemic as well as potential emergencies in the future.