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Comparative Study
. 2018 May;54(4):410-419.
doi: 10.1007/s10597-017-0171-2. Epub 2017 Oct 3.

Prenatal Life Events, Maternal Employment, and Postpartum Depression across a Diverse Population in New York City

Cindy H Liu  1 , Jenny Phan  2 , Miwa Yasui  3 , Stacey Doan  4
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Prenatal Life Events, Maternal Employment, and Postpartum Depression across a Diverse Population in New York City

Cindy H Liu et al. Community Ment Health J. 2018 May.

Abstract

This study examined racial/ethnic disparities in three core postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms, and identified specific predictors of PPD including sociodemographic variables, life stressors and maternal employment. White, African American, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander women from the New York City area (n = 3010) completed the 2009-2011 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. African American women were less likely to have PPD than White women. Maternal employment during the postpartum was associated with an increased likelihood of PPD for White women relative to women who were not employed. Life stressors and maternal employment should be considered as culturally contextualized factors related to postpartum depression.

Keywords: Employment; Postpartum depression; Racial disparities; Stressful life events.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

None of the authors have any conflicts of interests to report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of women endorsing 0, 1–2, 3–5, and 6–13 stressors by race/ethnicity
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of women endorsing specific types of stressors by race/ethnicity
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