Working women, their emotional well-being and pregnancy in Greece

Abstract

The study investigates the relationship between occupational status during preg-nancy and depression in the post-partum period. A sample of 2831 married women, physically healthy during pregnancy and of Greek nationality, was drawn from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC). Three to four days post-partum, women answered a questionnaire exploring retrospectively their own and their partners' lifestyle and physical and psychosocial well-being. Taking parental status into account, the study examined whether age, education, perceived social support, locus of control, impact of stressful life events, activity level and perceived satisfaction with work, moderated the relationship between occupational status during pregnancy and psychological well-being post-partum. The results showed that employment status only explains depression in multiparous women. Social support, internal locus of control, decreased impact of life events and increased activity during pregnancy have a beneficial effect on depression of both multiparous and primiparous women. Giving up work during pregnancy did not appear to differentiate between the two groups of women in terms of depression. Reasons for stopping work or the time of doing so were not found to predict depression. Results are discussed with reference to the current Greek sociocultural context.