title: Associations between physical activity and postpartum depressive symptoms.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Postpartum women are at increased risk for developing depression, which can contribute to the ill health of the mother and her family. Previous research indicates that mothers who are physically active during leisure experience lower levels of postpartum depressive symptoms than do inactive mothers. The objective of this investigation was to examine the associations between total and domain-specific moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and depressive symptoms postpartum.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from 550 women who participated in the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition (PIN) Postpartum Study, a prospective cohort of mothers who delivered liveborn infants from October 2002 to December 2005 in North Carolina. Three-month postpartum MVPA was investigated as a predictor of 12-month postpartum depressive symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Those who participated in MVPA had two times the odds of developing elevated depressive symptoms at 12 months postpartum than those with no MVPA (odds ratio [OR] 2.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-6.75). Different associations were suggested when examining domain-specific MVPA. Those participating in adult and child care and indoor household MVPA at 3 months postpartum had more than double the odds of developing elevated depressive symptoms at 12 months postpartum (OR 2.66, 95% CI 1.03, 8.11 and OR 2.72, 95% CI 0.96-10.18, respectively). Work MVPA conferred a doubling of the odds (OR 1.95, 95% CI 0.46-7.13), but recreational and outdoor household MVPA showed no associations with depressive symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Associations between MVPA and depressive symptoms differed by domain among postpartum women. Future studies of postpartum depressive symptoms should explore reasons for differences in physical activity by domain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7435, USA. demissie@email.unc.edu
authors.forename: Zewditu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Demissie
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Siega-Riz
authors.forename: Kelly R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Evenson
authors.forename: Amy H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Herring
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dole
authors.forename: Bradley N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Gaynes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D005082:Physical Exertion; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult