Relation Between Perinatal Depressive Symptoms, Harm Avoidance, and a History of Major Depressive Disorder: A Cohort Study of Pregnant Women in Japan

• Published in: Frontiers in psychiatry 2019-07, Vol.10, p.515
• Main Authors: Kubota, Chika, Inada, Toshiya, Shiino, Tomoko, Ando, Masahiko, Aleksic, Branko, Yamauchi, Aya, Sato, Maya, Ohara, Masako, Murase, Satomi, Morikawa, Mako, Nakamura, Yukako, Okada, Takashi, Goto, Setsuko, Kanai, Atsuko, Ozaki, Norio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: harm avoidance; major depressive disorder; postpartum depression; psychiatric status rating scales; Psychiatry; psychometrics
• ISSN: 1664-0640; 1664-0640
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00515

The relationship between perinatal depressive symptoms, harm avoidance (HA), and a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) was examined in a prospective cohort study. This study was conducted from May 1, 2011, to December 31, 2016. A history of MDD was evaluated using the Inventory to Diagnose Depression, Lifetime version during pregnancy. Depressive state and HA were evaluated during pregnancy and at 1 month postnatal using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Temperament and Character Inventory, respectively. The relationship between these variances was examined using structural equation modeling. A total of 338 participants with complete data were included in the present study. Pregnant women with compared with those without a history of MDD were observed to have a significantly higher intensity of HA and more severe depressive symptoms in both the prenatal and postnatal periods. A history of MDD affected the severity of depressive symptoms [standardized path coefficient (SPC) = 0.25, < 0.001] and the intensity of HA during pregnancy (SPC = 0.36, < 0.001). The intensity of HA during pregnancy affected that at 1 month postnatal (SPC = 0.78, < 0.001), while the severity of depressive symptoms as assessed by the EPDS during pregnancy affected that at 1 month postnatal (SPC = 0.41, < 0.001). The SPC for perinatal HA to postnatal depressive symptoms (SPC = 0.13, = 0.014) was significant and higher than that for perinatal depressive symptoms to postnatal HA (SPC = 0.06, = 0.087). The present results suggest that early intervention in pregnant women with a history of MDD or a high intensity of HA is important to prevent postnatal depressive symptoms.