Is social support associated with postpartum depression, anxiety and perceived stress among Korean women within the first year postpartum?

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to examine the association between social support, postpartum depression (PPD), anxiety and perceived stress among women within 12 months of childbirth in South Korea.

Methods

A cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted from 21 to 30 September 2022 and included women within 12 months of childbirth in Chungnam Province, South Korea. A total of 1486 participants were included. Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between social support and mental health.

Results

In total, 40.0% of the participants had mild to moderate PPD; 12.0%, anxiety symptoms; and 8.2%, perceived severe stress. Social support (from family and significant others) is significantly associated with PPD, anxiety and perceived severe stress. Current maternal health problems, unplanned pregnancy and low household income were risk factors for PPD, anxiety and perceived stress. The increase in the time elapsed after childbirth showed a positive association with PPD and perceived severe stress.

Conclusions

Our findings provide insights to identify at-risk mothers and emphasize the importance of social support in families, early screening and continuous monitoring for postpartum women to prevent PPD, anxiety and stress.

Keywords:

• Social support
• postpartum depression
• anxiety
• perceived stress
• maternal mental health

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National R&D Program for Cancer Control through the National Cancer Center (NCC) funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (Grant number: HA21C0225).

Ethical approval

All eligible participants were surveyed using a web-based questionnaire after obtaining their informed consent. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea (approval number: MC22ZISI0095).

Author contributions

Mi-Sun Lee: conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, visualization, formal analysis, data curation, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing. Jung Jae Lee: conceptualization, data acquisition and investigation. Soyeon Park: conceptualization, methodology and data curation. Seongju Kim: methodology, software and data curation. Hooyeon Lee: conceptualization, methodology, validation, investigation, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition, writing, review and editing.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

The data from this study cannot be made publicly available to protect participants’ information. Inquiries about the data can be referred to the corresponding author (HY, LEE, [email protected]).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National R&D Program for Cancer Control through the National Cancer Center (NCC) funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (Grant Number: HA21C0225).