title: Relationships of race and socioeconomic status to postpartum depressive symptoms in rural African American and non-Hispanic white women.
abstract: This study examines the potential racial disparity in postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms among a cohort of non-Hispanic white and African American women after taking into consideration the influence of socioeconomic status (SES). Participants (N = 299) were recruited from maternity clinics serving rural counties, with oversampling of low SES and African Americans. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was administered 1 and 6 months postpartum, and subjective SES scale at 6 months postpartum. Demographic information was collected during enrollment and 1 month postpartum, with updates at 6 months postpartum. Separate logistic regressions were conducted for 1 and 6 month time points for minor-major PPD (EPDS ≥ 10) and major PPD (EPDS > 12); with marital status, poverty, education, subjective SES, and race predictors entered in block sequence. After including all other predictors, race was not a significant predictor of minor-major or major PPD at 1 or 6 months postpartum. Subjective SES was the most consistent predictor of PPD, being significantly associated with minor-major PPD and major PPD at 6 months postpartum, with higher subjective SES indicating lower odds of PPD, even after accounting for all other predictors. This study shows that significant racial disparities were not observed for minor-major or major PPD criteria at 1 or 6 months postpartum. The most consistent and significant predictor of PPD was subjective SES. Implications of these findings for future research, as well as PPD screening and intervention are discussed.
authors.affiliation: East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA. dolbierc@ecu.edu
authors.forename: Christyn L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Dolbier
authors.forename: Taylor E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Rush
authors.forename: Latoya S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Sahadeo
authors.forename: Michele L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Shaffer
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thorp
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D017533:Marital Status; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult