Goal reconstruction and depressive symptoms during the transition to motherhood: evidence from two cross-lagged longitudinal studies.
Two cross-lagged longitudinal studies were carried out to investigate the extent to which the adjustment of personal goals to match the particular stage-specific demands of the transition to motherhood has consequences for women's depressive symptoms. In Study 1. 348 women filled out a revised version of Little's (1983) Personal Project Analysis and a revised version of Beck's Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck. C. H. Ward. M. Mendelsohn, L. Mock, & J. Erlaugh. 1961) 4 times: during early pregnancy, 1 month before childbirth, 3 months after childbirth. and 2 years after childbirth. In Study 2. 140 women who reported high levels of fear of childbirth filled out identical measures during early pregnancy, 1 month before childbirth, and 3 months after childbirth. The results showed that an increase in family-related goals during pregnancy and after the birth of the child predicted a decline in women's depressive symptoms. By contrast, an increase in self-focused goals predicted an increase in women's depressive symptoms.
Salmela-Aro
K
K
Department of Psychology, University of Jyväiskylä, Finland. Katariina.salmela-aro@occuphealth.fi
Nurmi
J E
JE
Saisto
T
T
Halmesmaki
E
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires