Race/ethnicity and perinatal depressed mood

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which race/ethnicity is a risk factor for depressed mood in late pregnancy and the early postpartum period apart from its relationship with other demographic and infant outcome variables. Data obtained from 26,877 women with newborns in Iowa indicate that 15.7% endorsed a single depression item. Logistic regression results indicate that race/ethnicity was a significant predictor of depressed mood, controlling for age, marital status, income and educational level, and infant health outcome. Compared to White women, African‐American women were significantly more likely to report depressed mood (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.03–1.52). Hispanic women were significantly less likely to report being depressed (OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.61–0.88). The role of social support in understanding these findings is explored.

Acknowledgements

The Iowa Barriers to Prenatal Care Project is funded by the Iowa Department of Public Health. The views expressed in this manuscript do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Public Health or the State of Iowa. This work was also supported by grant MH59668 from the National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD (Scott Stuart, M.D.). The authors would like to thank Charles Lynch, M.D. Ph.D. and Stephan Arndt Ph.D. for their help with the preparation of this manuscript. Portions of the data reported here were presented at the 2nd World Congress on Women's Mental Health (March 17–20, 2004) in Washington, DC. An extended version of this report is available upon request.