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. 2009 Jan;14(1):27-35.
doi: 10.1177/1359105308097940.

The relationship between depression and body dissatisfaction across pregnancy and the postpartum: a prospective study

Abigail Clark  1 , Helen Skouteris, Eleanor H Wertheim, Susan J Paxton, Jeannette Milgrom
Affiliations

The relationship between depression and body dissatisfaction across pregnancy and the postpartum: a prospective study

Abigail Clark et al. J Health Psychol. 2009 Jan.

Abstract

The overall aim of this study was to examine the relationship between depression and body dissatisfaction across pregnancy and the first 12 months postpartum. During pregnancy, women's (N = 116) perceived attractiveness and strength/fitness remained stable, while feeling fat and salience of weight/shape decreased in late pregnancy. During the postpartum, feeling fat and salience of weight/shape increased. Depression and body dissatisfaction scores were correlated with each other concurrently and across multiple time points. However, in baseline-controlled prospective analyses, only a model of greater depression late in pregnancy predicting body dissatisfaction at six weeks postpartum and feeling fat throughout the postpartum was supported.

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