Perinatal mood disorders
Over the past several years, pregnancy related mood disorders have become the focus of health careadvocates and legislators alike with subsequent reflection in nationwide media. Statistics on the prevalence of perinatal mood disorders suggest that up to 20% of women experience diagnosable pregnancy related mood disorders. The growing recognition of these common disorders, coupled with an increasing knowledge base about the direct consequences of untreated maternal depression, has propelled this issue to the fore of national public health priorities.This increasing awareness has also resulted in recent USA legislative and healthcare initiatives to screen, assess,and treat such disorders. On April 13, 2006, Governor Jon S. Corzine (D -NJ) signed a law requiring all newmothers to be educated and screened for postpartum depression. This law is the first of its kind in the country, but many States and federal advocates are proposing similar laws. The motivation for States government to adopt education and screening program is high. But a major barrier to successful implementation of such programs is the lack of available resources to train healthcare professionals in this specialty.
A survey example: a predominantly white, middle class sample of pregnant women (N = 93) completed the AACL (Anxiety), the DACL (Depressive Mood), the SCL (Somatic Symptoms) and the IPAT Anxiety Questionnaire at the second, fifth and eighth months of pregnancy. A menstrual history questionnaire was administered on the first testing occasion. Analyses revealed that anxiety varied significantly as a function of trimester and that previous pregnancy history interacted significantly with trimester. Depressive mood was not significantly affected by any of the sources of variation. Correlational analysis (average correlations over trimesters) indicated significant relationships between somatic symptoms and anxiety, but not between somatic symptoms and depressive mood; a small but significant relationship between history of menstrual complaint and somatic symptoms; and a significant negative correlation between education and overt anxiety.
Over the past several years, pregnancy related mood disorders have become the focus of health careadvocates and legislators alike with subsequent reflection in nationwide media. Statistics on the prevalence of perinatal mood disorders suggest that up to 20% of women experience diagnosable pregnancy related mood disorders. The growing recognition of these common disorders, coupled with an increasing knowledge base about the direct consequences of untreated maternal depression, has propelled this issue to the fore of national public health priorities.This increasing awareness has also resulted in recent USA legislative and healthcare initiatives to screen, assess,and treat such disorders. On April 13, 2006, Governor Jon S. Corzine (D -NJ) signed a law requiring all newmothers to be educated and screened for postpartum depression. This law is the first of its kind in the country, but many States and federal advocates are proposing similar laws. The motivation for States government to adopt education and screening program is high. But a major barrier to successful implementation of such programs is the lack of available resources to train healthcare professionals in this specialty.
A survey example: a predominantly white, middle class sample of pregnant women (N = 93) completed the AACL (Anxiety), the DACL (Depressive Mood), the SCL (Somatic Symptoms) and the IPAT Anxiety Questionnaire at the second, fifth and eighth months of pregnancy. A menstrual history questionnaire was administered on the first testing occasion. Analyses revealed that anxiety varied significantly as a function of trimester and that previous pregnancy history interacted significantly with trimester. Depressive mood was not significantly affected by any of the sources of variation. Correlational analysis (average correlations over trimesters) indicated significant relationships between somatic symptoms and anxiety, but not between somatic symptoms and depressive mood; a small but significant relationship between history of menstrual complaint and somatic symptoms; and a significant negative correlation between education and overt anxiety.
