title: Quality of life, postnatal depression and baby gender.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the impact of postnatal depression on the quality of life of young French mothers and to evaluate if the gender of their child influences this.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Postnatal depression (PND) constitutes a major public health problem considering its high prevalence and consequences upon quality of life and parental skills.
  
  
  METHODS
  This research is a cross-sectional study during the postnatal period.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was carried out during a two-month period. Data were collected by interview and questionnaires. The authors compared the prevalence rate of PND and life quality in a cohort of 181 women and measured the short-term impact of the child's birth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Postnatal depression strongly negatively influences all dimensions of life quality explored through the SF36, e.g. physical functioning (PF), physical Role (RP), bodily pain (BP), mental health (MH), emotional role (RE), social functioning (SF), vitality (VT), general health (GH), standardized physical component (PCS) and standardized mental component (MCS). The baby's gender (having a boy) also significantly reduces quality of life, irrespective of depressive state. There is a relationship between baby gender and PND.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This research is the first to show that the birth of a boy reduces several dimensions of the mothers' quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The importance of the impairment of quality of life in case of PND, as well as its effects on mother-child interaction, could justify prevention programs and early psychotherapeutic care. Further research needs to explore the effectiveness of programmes targeting the construction of parenting skills as a preventative measure against PND, especially for parents of boys.
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Recherche en Psychologie de la Santé (GREPSA), Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive et Clinique, Université Nancy 2, Nancy Cedex, France. detychey@univ-nancy2.fr
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Tychey
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Briançon
authors.forename: Joëlle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lighezzolo
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spitz
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kabuth
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de Luigi
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Messembourg
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Girvan
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosati
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thockler
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vincent
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D005783:Gender Identity; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires