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. 2017 Aug;77(3-4):209-220.
doi: 10.1007/s11199-016-0705-z. Epub 2016 Nov 23.

Social Support and Postpartum Depression Revisited: The Traditional Female Role as Moderator among Mexican Women

Analia F Albuja  1 , M Asunción Lara  2 , Laura Navarrete  2 , Lourdes Nieto  2
Affiliations

Social Support and Postpartum Depression Revisited: The Traditional Female Role as Moderator among Mexican Women

Analia F Albuja et al. Sex Roles. 2017 Aug.

Abstract

Women who lack social support tend to have a higher risk of postpartum depression. The present study examined the traditional female role, understood here as the adoption of passive and submissive traits specific to Mexican women, as another risk factor for postpartum depressive symptomatology that interacts with social support. Using two waves of data from a longitudinal study of 210 adult Mexican women (20-44 years-old, Mage = 29.50 years, SD = 6.34), we found that lacking social support during the third trimester of their pregnancy was associated with greater depressive symptoms at 6 months in the postpartum, although this relationship depended on the level of endorsement of the traditional female role during pregnancy. Lower social support during pregnancy predicted greater postpartum depressive symptoms for women with higher endorsement of the traditional female role, even when accounting for prenatal depressive symptoms. These results suggest that Mexican women's experience of social support may depend on their individual adherence to gender roles. Understanding the association between women's traditional roles and social support in the risk for postpartum depression can improve prevention and educational programs for women at risk.

Keywords: postpartum depression; sex roles; social support; traditional female role.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Postpartum depression as a function of Traditional Female Role and social support. B = standardized regression coefficient; TFR = Traditional Female Role; PPD = postpartum depression. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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