Mood changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period: development of a biopsychosocial model.
OBJECTIVE
Women are vulnerable to mood changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period. We set out to empirically test the hypothesis that biological and psychosocial variables interact to result in this vulnerability.


METHODS
Using structural equation modeling techniques, we developed an integrative model of perinatal mood changes from clinical, psychosocial, hormone and mood data collected from 150 women in late pregnancy and at 6-weeks postpartum.


RESULTS
In the prenatal model, biological variables had no direct effect on depressive symptoms. However, they did act indirectly through their significant effects on psychosocial stressors and symptoms of anxiety. The same model did not fit the postpartum data, suggesting that different causal variables may be implicated in postpartum mood.


CONCLUSIONS
This model demonstrates the importance of considering both biological and psychosocial variables in complex health conditions such as perinatal mood disorders.
Ross
L E
LE
Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Women's College Campus and Departments of Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Medicine, and Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. l.ross@utoronto.ca
Sellers
E M
EM
Gilbert Evans
S E
SE
Romach
M K
MK
D000328:Adult; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D011584:Psychology; D012944:Social Support