PERINATAL EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMATOLOGY (POSTPARTUM, DEPRESSION, PRENATAL).
Contributors: University Of Illinois At Chicago, Health Sciences Center.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 172
Subjects: Health Sciences, Mental Health.; Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study was a secondary analysis of data obtained from perinatal and control groups of women. It was a quantitative, cross-sectional study, designed in part to determine the prevalence and course of perinatal emotional symptomatology, as measured by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Differences in symptoms and sociobiological data reported by normal and depressive perinatal women were also examined.

Convenience samples consisted of 147 prenatal, African American women; 117 postpartum African American women; 36 postpartum Hispanic women; 52 postpartum Caucasian women; and 50 women who provided control data for the African American perinatal groups.

The prevalence rate of depressive symptomatology, anxiety, and somatization in the prenatal group was significantly higher than that in the postpartum and control groups. The prenatal sample also had a higher prevalence rate of interpersonal-sensitivity than the postpartum groups. The prenatal sample had the lowest proportion of emotionally healthy women, while the Hispanic postpartum and control groups had the highest proportion of emotionally healthy women.

The postpartum prevalence rate of depressive symptomatology did not differ from controls, but there was a greater prevalence of somatization than in the control group. The prevalence of postpartum obsessive-compulsive symptomatology was higher than that in the prenatal group.

Half of the depressive prenatal women continued to be depressive postpartum. About three fourths of the depressive postpartum women had been depressive during pregnancy. Emotionally healthy prenatal and postpartum women tended to have a healthy course throughout the perinatal period.

Several sociobiological items were reported differently by normal and depressive perinatal women. These included financial or housing problems and problems with the woman's relationship with her partner. Depressive women tended to consider themselves nervous or worrying types.

There were nine symptom items from the Hopkins Symptom Checklist that were able to classify normal and depressive perinatal women. These need to be studied further as a means of screening depressive patients.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-05, Section: B, page: 2241.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO, HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, 1992.

School code: 0806.