Postpartum acute stress disorder symptoms, social support, and quality of couple's relationship associations with childbirth PTSD

• Published in: Frontiers in psychiatry 2024-06, Vol.15, p.1310114
• Main Authors: Handelzalts, Jonathan E, Kalfon-Hakhmigari, Maor, Raichin, Adi, Peled, Yoav
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ASD; postpartum; Psychiatry; PTSD; quality of couple’s relationship; social support
• ISSN: 1664-0640; 1664-0640
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1310114

We aimed to examine the hypothesized negative associations between childbirth post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (using the two-factor model of birth-related and general symptoms), social support, and a couple's relationship quality at 8-12 weeks postpartum. This analysis considered the longitudinal positive shared variance with acute stress disorder (ASD) symptoms measured shortly after birth, while accounting for obstetric and demographic variables. Participants included 246 mothers who gave birth at the maternity ward of a tertiary healthcare center. Self-report questionnaires were used 1-4 days postpartum (T1): Demographic information, the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R), and the National Stressful Events Survey Acute Stress Disorder Short Scale (NSESSS). At T2 (8-12 weeks postpartum), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS-7), and the City Birth Trauma Scale (BiTS). In partial support of our hypotheses, three hierarchical regression analyses revealed a significant positive contribution of ASD symptoms to childbirth PTSD general symptoms (β = .33,