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Abstract
A sample of 350 French Canadian women were interviewed at the beginning of the second trimester of pregnancy. Their level of depressive symptomatology was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Several demographic and psychosocial variables were included in a multiple regression analysis in order to identify the variables which contribute to the variance in the BDI score. Results show that employment, higher self-esteem, and satisfaction with social support were related to lower levels of pre-partum depressive symptoms. Prior experiences of emotional difficulties, number of individuals with whom the subject reports a negative relationship, intensity of perinatal stress, as well as the perceived impact of stressful life events, are associated with an increase in the BDI score. It is proposed that a diathesis-stress model can account for this pattern of results. The limitations in generalizing these results to samples of non-francophone women are discussed.