Social correlates of mental health issues

The final issue in Volume 42 contains articles whose authors have addressed mental health. Scholars in Turkey (Aynur Kızılırmak, et al.), Iran (Hormoz Sanaeinasab, et al.) and Croatia (Eva And-ela Delale, et al.) suggest that pregnancy and the post-partum period may trigger depression, but that social support and spiritually integrated interventions may be helpful. Tania Perich and colleagues in their work with women diagnosed with bipolar disorder in Australia explain that reproductive life events in general create a sense of loss of self-agency and self-control, because the events lead to changes in many aspects of life. In the final article, Garcia and Nieto contribute to theoretical literature concerned with various profiles of gender norm conformity and how they may predict mental health outcomes. As I read the collection of articles, I reaffirm my commitment to the study of social relationships, as they predict our experiences of health. Alas, I also ponder about how depression in studies of women and mental health always seems to be central while limited social support and norms assigned to women seem to be predictive. I present the table of literature contributions to guide you as you read and learn.

Table

Health issue(s)	Authors	International literature contribution	Extent of global contribution	Research location
Postpartum Depression	Aynur Kızılırmak, et al.	Theoretical Contribution: There is a negative correlation between postpartum depression and spousal support.	Postpartum depression is a global phenomenon, but data were limited to Turkey. Methods may be replication to test hypotheses elsewhere to strengthen global contribution.	Turkey
Stress, Anxiety, Depression & Blood Pressure	Hormoz Sanaeinasab, et al.	Practice Contribution: Stress, anxiety, depression, and elevated blood pressure experienced by pregnant women may be reduced with an integrated spiritual intervention.	Data limited to Iran, Authors note more research is needed in other cultures to verify spiritual-integrated cognitive behavioral educational programs are useful for improving the mental and physical health in pregnancy.	Tehran, Iran
Quality of Life during pregnancy	Eva Andela Delale,et al.	Theoretical Contribution: Depression and hope, together with the extent to which one’s health is influenced by powerful other, or chance is related to quality of life during pregnancy.	Specific findings limited to Croatia, but study may be replicated elsewhere.	Croatia
Bipolar Disorder	Tania Perich, et al.	Theoretical Contribution: Women with bipolar disorder experience a sense of loss of self-agency and self-control during reproductive life events.	Findings are limited to women in Australia, but study may be replicated elsewhere.	Australia

Table

Mental Health

M. E. Aparicio-Garcıa and M. D. Nieto

Theoretical Contribution: Different forms of experiencing conformity to gender norms are significantly related to clinically relevant mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and self-esteem.

Informants for this study were in Spain but study may be replicated elsewhere.

Spain

Eleanor Krassen Covan, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
November 21, 2021
[email protected]