Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health

Smith HC, Saxena S, Petersen I. J Clin Psychiatry. 2022 Jun 13;83(4):20m13575.

Of the 196,329 women, 20,802 (10.6%) had a record of postnatal depression and/or antidepressant prescription. There was no difference in infants’ 5-in-1 vaccination completion between those of mothers with a record and those of mothers’ without depression.

Association between labor and delivery pain and postpartum pain with symptoms and clinical diagnosis of postpartum depression in patients with overweight and obesity.

Rajabaliev E, LaSorda K, Ibarra A, Kenkre T, Levine MD, Lim G. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2022 Jun 4.

Although labor and postpartum pain were not associated with clinical diagnosis of depression (SCID) at 6 months postpartum, postpartum pain was linked to 6-month postpartum depression symptoms. Depressive symptoms are more likely to be exhibited in women with higher postpartum pain, potentially reflecting poorer birth recovery.

Maternal sleep problems, depression, and infant negative emotionality are associated with maternal feeding to soothe in early infancy.

Leerkes EM, Bailes LG, Eagleton SG, Buehler C, Shriver LH, Wideman L. Appetite. 2022 May 27;176:106098.

Infant negative emotionality was associated with greater feeding to soothe among mothers with higher sleep problems, and sleep problems were associated with greater feeding to soothe only among depressed mothers and mothers receiving WIC benefits.

Effectiveness of the “Essential Coaching for Every Mother” postpartum text message program on maternal psychosocial outcomes: A randomized controlled trial.

Dol J, Aston M, Grant A, McMillan D, Tomblin Murphy G, Campbell-Yeo M.

Digit Health. 2022 Jun 12;8:20552076221107886.

The Essential Coaching for Every Mother program improved maternal self-efficacy, and perceived social support, while reducing postpartum anxiety at six-weeks postpartum.

Trajectories of depressive symptoms among mothers of preterm and full-term infants in a national sample.

Roubinov D, Musci RJ, Hipwell AE, Wu G, Santos H, Felder JN, Faleschini S, Conradt E, McEvoy CT, Lester BM, Buss C, Elliott AJ, Cordero JF, Stroustrup A, Bush NR.

Arch Womens Ment Health. 2022 Jun 16.

One in 5 mothers of preterm infants developed clinically relevant depressive symptoms over time compared with 1 in 10 mothers of full-term infants. Among women who delivered preterm compared with those who delivered full-term, symptoms were more likely to increase over time and become severe when offspring were older. Mild to moderate depressive symptoms may onset or persist for many women beyond the initial postpartum period regardless of newborn gestational age at birth. For women with preterm infants, initially mild symptoms may increase to high levels of severity during the preschool and toddler years.

Parental embodied mentalizing: Associations with maternal depression, anxiety, verbal mentalizing, and maternal styles of interaction.

Ierardi E, Dascalu A, Shai D, Spencer R, Riva Crugnola C. J Affect Disord. 2022 Aug 15;311:472-478.

Maternal depression and state anxiety were negatively correlated with parental embodied mentalizing (PEM). PEM was also negatively correlated to maternal controlling style. Mothers with psychopathological problems (vs. mothers with no psychopathological problems) had lower PEM and sensitivity and more controlling style.

Randomized controlled trial of Sunnyside: Individual versus group-based online interventions to prevent postpartum depression.

Duffecy J, Grekin R, Long JD, Mills JA, O’Hara M. J Affect Disord. 2022 Aug 15;311:538-547.

Sunnyside, an internet-based cognitive-behavioral intervention, delivered in a group format was as effective as the same intervention delivered individually for the prevention of PPD.