Heidi Simoni

Depressive symptoms and psychosocial stress across the transition to parenthood: Associations with parental psychopathology and child difficulty

The transition to parenthood is often accompanied by depression and stress. Several studies have established risk factors for postpartum depression, e.g., antenatal depression. However, only a few studies have involved fathers. Moreover, most studies focus on the prevalence of depression instead of intraindividual changes over time. Our study investigated differential effects of parental psychopathology and child difficulty on the course of depressive symptoms and feelings of stress for first-time mothers and fathers. Seventy-four mothers and 58 fathers completed questionnaires on depressive symptoms (EPDS) and feelings of stress during pregnancy, and at 1, 3, 12, and 18 months postpartum. Parents rated childrens difficulty-fussiness at 3, 12, and 18 months postpartum (ICQ). Parental psychopathology was established during pregnancy using self-reports (SCL-90-R) and anamnestic data. In mentally healthy mothers and fathers depressive symptoms decreased from pregnancy to 18 months postpartum, whereas parents with psychopathology in pregnancy showed a tendency to prolonged depressive phases. In parents with psychopathology, feelings of stress peaked at 12 months postpartum. Child difficulty was associated with elevated levels of psychosocial stress, but only for some participants. Parental psychopathological symptoms during pregnancy should thus be considered as a risk factor for elevated and prolonged depression and elevated psychosocial stress in mothers and fathers across the transition to parenthood.

Birth as a multidimensional experience: comparison of the English- and German-language versions of Salmon's Item List

Results concerning satisfaction with the birth experience in different trials are difficult to compare, owing to a lack of internationally used research scales. Salmons Item List (SIL) is easy-to-handle and would therefore be very helpful for research as well as for obstetric clinic quality control. Two hundred and fifty-one patients were investigated using a German-language version of SIL (SIL-ger); the statistical evaluation was carried out by means of a principal components analysis. Principal components analysis revealed two major findings: (1) as stated by other authors the birth experience is multidimensional, each aspect influencing the others in a non-linear way; (2) in addition to Salmons dimensions (i.e. postnatal ‘fulfillment’, intranatal ‘physical discomfort’ and intranatal ‘emotional distress’) another postnatal dimension labeled ‘negative emotional experience’ was detected. Not only are intranatal experiences multidimensional, but so too are evaluative feelings afterwards. In addition to fulfillment, as developed by Salmon, a dimension of negative emotional experience needs to be taken into account. This dimension does not correlate in a linear way with fulfillment. It is appropriate to use SIL in research. Before using it for purposes of clinical quality control, however, larger samples need to be evaluated in order to prove the stability of the factor structure.