Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

The transition to parenthood is a stressful experience for many women, and depressive symptoms are common during pregnancy and the first year postpartum. The transition to parenthood may be especially stressful for adolescent mothers (e.g., Troutman & Cutrona, 1990).

Studies of adult mothers have shown that well being during pregnancy and after delivery are related to quality of social support, especially spousal support (e.g. Campbell et al, 1992). However, compared to older mothers, adolescent mothers are more likely to receive support from their own mothers than from their babies' fathers. It is unclear whether well being in teenage mothers is more closely related to support from partners or others in their social networks (Stevenson, Maton, & Teti, 1999).

Sample

208 African-American women between the ages of 14 and 21 (mean 18.3 years) were interviewed during the second trimester of pregnancy and when their infants were four- and twelve-months old. Mothers were recruited through prenatal clinics of an urban teaching hospital. Most were unmarried and giving birth for the first time.

Methods

Adolescents were administered the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (Radloff, 1977) to assess depressive symptoms. They were also interviewed about amount of support provided by their own mothers (or other primary female caregivers) and their babies' fathers.

Results

Mean CES-D scores were 16.0 (SD=8.7) prenatally, 11.8 (SD=9.2) at four months postpartum, and 11.0 (SD=9.1) at twelve months postpartum. 45% of the women had CES-D scores above the clinical level (>16) during pregnancy, with fewer having elevated scores at four months (24%) and twelve months (22%) postpartum. Most women who had levels of depression above the clinical threshold at four and twelve months had previously had clinically significant levels of prenatal depression.

Amount of support from baby's father was associated with fewer depressive symptoms prenatally (r=-.32) and to a lesser extent at twelve months postpartum (r=-.21). Support from their own mothers was unrelated to young women's depressive symptoms prenatally, but was related at twelve months postpartum (r=-.32).

Summary and Practice Implications

Depressive symptoms are clearly linked to factors in the mothers' social network. Over time, quality of support from the baby's father becomes less linked to the mother's mental health and the quality of the support from her own mother becomes increasingly linked to mother's mental health, as presumably the demands of childrearing and needs for childcare help increase.

Despite considerable public concern regarding postpartum depression, in this sample of young mothers, depressive symptoms were on average more elevated during pregnancy than postpartum. These findings suggest that screening for maternal depression should begin during pregnancy rather than wait until the postpartum period. For adolescents, perhaps the most stressful part of the transition to parenthood occurs soon after they discover an unplanned pregnancy and do not yet know how it will impact their lives. After the birth, many uncertainties are resolved, and other factors such as the pleasure derived from parenting a child may outweigh ongoing stress in relationships with parents and partners.