Saturday 15 June 2013

Interactions between perceptions of relationship quality and postnatal depressive symptoms in Australian, primiparous women and their partners

Dr Karen Wynter


Dr Karen Wynter and colleagues have analysed how perceptions of intimate relationships can correlate with postnatal depressive symptoms.  The study, published in the Australian Journal of Primary Health, was conducted on Australian couples from English speaking backgrounds following the birth of their first child.

What they discovered was that the incidence of postnatal depressive symptoms showed a significant correlation with relationships in which the partners were perceived as coercive, critical or intimidating.  In conjunction, other factors such as having a vulnerable personality, high levels of infant crying or fussing and additional adverse circumstances were associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms.  Thus poor perceptions of a relationship coupled with other factors such as increased infant crying were likely to increase displays of postnatal depressive symptoms.

(‘Interactions between perceptions of relationship quality and postnatal depressive symptoms in Australian, primiparous women and their partners’:  Wynter, K., Rowe, H., Fisher, J:  Australian Journal of Primary Health [epub]; doi: 10.1071/PY12066).

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