Cognitive style, personality and vulnerability to postnatal depression.
BACKGROUND
Only some women with recurrent major depressive disorder experience postnatal episodes. Personality and/or cognitive styles might increase the likelihood of experiencing postnatal depression.


OBJECTIVE
To establish whether personality and cognitive style predicts vulnerability to postnatal episodes over and above their known relationship to depression in general.


METHODS
We compared personality and cognitive style in women with recurrent major depressive disorder who had experienced one or more postnatal episodes (postnatal depression (PND) group, n=143) with healthy female controls (control group, n=173). We also examined parous women with recurrent major depressive disorder who experienced no perinatal episodes (non-postnatal depression (NPND) group, n=131).


RESULTS
The PND group had higher levels of neuroticism and dysfunctional beliefs, and lower self-esteem than the control group. However, there were no significant differences between the PND and NPND groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Established personality and cognitive vulnerabilities for depression were reported by women with a history of postnatal depression, but there was no evidence that any of these traits or styles confer a specific risk for the postnatal onset of episodes.
Jones
Lisa
L
Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Birmingham, UK.
Scott
Jan
J
Cooper
Caroline
C
Forty
Liz
L
Smith
Katherine Gordon
KG
Sham
Pak
P
Farmer
Anne
A
McGuffin
Peter
P
Craddock
Nick
N
Jones
Ian
I
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003071:Cognition; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000523:psychology; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008875:Middle Aged; D036801:Parturition / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality; D011247:Pregnancy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult