Modeling trait depression amplifies the effect of childbearing on postpartum depression
Abstract
Background The literature on the relative risk for depression in the postpartum period has largely focused on state (or episodic) depression, and has not addressed trait depression (a woman's general tendency to experience depressed mood). The present study evaluates the association between childbirth and depression in the postpartum period, taking into account the role of stable differences in women's vulnerability for depression across a 10-year span.Methods Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort (N = 4385) were used. The recency of childbirth was used as a predictor of state depression in two models: one that modeled stable depressive symptoms over time (a multi-state single-trait model; LST), and one that did not (an autoregressive cross-lagged model; ARM).Results Modeling trait depression, in addition to state depression, improved model fit and had the effect of increasing the magnitude of the association between childbirth and state depression in the postpartum period.Limitations The secondary nature of the data limited the complexity of analyses (e.g., models with multivariate predictors were not possible), as the data were not collected with the present study in mind.Conclusions These findings may reflect the fact that some of the covariance between childbirth and episodic depression is obscured by the effect of trait depression, and it is not until trait depression is explicitly modeled that the magnitude of the relationship between childbirth and depression becomes clear.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Symptoms of depression are more prevalent during the postpartum period than in age-matched controls.
“A recent study indicates that symptoms of depression are more prevalent during the postpartum period than in age-matched controls.8”
Cites
Estimating the Dimension of a Model
Schwarz, G. (1978) · The Annals of Statistics · doi:10.1214/aos/1176344136 · Cited by 47,033 · see citing works
Statistical Analysis With Missing Data
Lahiff, M., Little, R. J. A., & Rubin, D. B. (1989) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.2307/2289883 · Cited by 17,384 · see citing works
A Rationale and Test for the Number of Factors in Factor Analysis
Horn, J. L. (1965) · Psychometrika · doi:10.1007/bf02289447 · Cited by 8,965 · see citing works
A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values
Little, R. J. A. (1988) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.1080/01621459.1988.10478722 · Cited by 8,963 · see citing works
Vandenberg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. (2000) · Organizational Research Methods · doi:10.1177/109442810031002 · Cited by 7,997 · see citing works
A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire
Goldberg, D. P., & Hillier, V. F. (1979) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700021644 · Cited by 5,494 · see citing works
Robins, L. N. (1981) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1981.01780290015001 · Cited by 5,219 · see citing works
Enders, C., & Bandalos, D. (2001) · Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal · doi:10.1207/s15328007sem0803_5 · Cited by 4,978 · see citing works
Statistical Analysis with Missing Data.
Chatfield, C., Little, R. J. A., & Rubin, D. B. (1988) · Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A (Statistics in Society) · doi:10.2307/2982783 · Cited by 2,203 · see citing works
Initial construction of a maladaptive personality trait model and inventory for DSM-5
Krueger, R. F., Derringer, J., Markon, K. E., Watson, D., & Skodol, A. E. (2012) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291711002674 · Cited by 1,908 · see citing works
Postpartum depression: current status and future directions
O'Hara, M. W., & McCabe, J. E. (2013) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185612 · Cited by 1,750 · see citing works
Self-citationPerformance of a Five-Item Mental Health Screening Test
Berwick, D. M., Murphy, J. M., Goldman, P. A., Ware, J. E., Barsky, A. J., & Weinstein, M. C. (1991) · Medical Care · doi:10.1097/00005650-199102000-00008 · Cited by 1,660 · see citing works
A practical and theoretical guide to measurement invariance in aging research
Horn, J. L., & Mcardle, J. J. (1992) · Experimental Aging Research · doi:10.1080/03610739208253916 · Cited by 1,592 · see citing works
Non-psychotic mental disorders in the perinatal period
Howard, L. M., Molyneaux, E., Dennis, C.-L., Rochat, T., Stein, A., & Milgrom, J. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(14)61276-9 · Cited by 1,328 · see citing works
Epidemiology of Puerperal Psychoses
Kendell, R. E., Chalmers, J. C., & Platz, C. (1987) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.150.5.662 · Cited by 1,119 · see citing works
Psychiatric Disorders in Pregnant and Postpartum Women in the United States
Vesga-López, O., Blanco, C., Keyes, K., Olfson, M., Grant, B. F., & Hasin, D. S. (2008) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.65.7.805 · Cited by 1,065 · see citing works
A common language effect size statistic
McGraw, K. O., & Wong, S. P. (1992) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.111.2.361 · Cited by 934 · see citing works
New Parents and Mental Disorders: A Population-Based Register Study
Munk-Olsen, T., Laursen, T. M., Pedersen, C. B., Mors, O., & Mortensen, P. B. (2006) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.296.21.2582 · Cited by 727 · see citing works
The NEO–PI–3: A More Readable Revised NEO Personality Inventory
McCrae, R. R., Costa, P. T., & Martin, T. (2005) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa8403_05 · Cited by 701 · see citing works
O'Hara, M. W., Zekoski, E. M., Philipps, L. H., & Wright, E. J. (1990) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.99.1.3 · Cited by 610 · see citing works
Self-citationO’Hara, M. W., Zekoski, E. M., Philipps, L. H. C., & Wright, E. J. (1990) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037//0021-843x.99.1.3 · Cited by 605 · see citing works
Self-citationCooper, P. J., Campbell, E. A., Day, A., Kennerley, H., & Bond, A. (1988) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.152.6.799 · Cited by 425 · see citing works
A probability-based measure of effect size: Robustness to base rates and other factors.
Ruscio, J. (2008) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/1082-989x.13.1.19 · Cited by 398 · see citing works
Prospective Study of Postpartum Blues: Biologic and Psychosocial Factors
O'Hara, M. W. (1991) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1991.01810330025004 · Cited by 345 · see citing works
Self-citation(2003) · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Jamshidian, M., Jalal, S., & Jansen, C. S. (2014) · Journal of Statistical Software · doi:10.18637/jss.v056.i06 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Jamshardian, M., & Jalal, S. (2010) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 222 · see citing works
Perinatal Mental Health: a guide to the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)
Macdougal, M. (2004) · Archives of Women s Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s00737-003-0031-7 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Davé, S., Petersen, I., Sherr, L., & Nazareth, I. (2010) · Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.184 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Depression in postpartum and non‐postpartum women: prevalence and risk factors
Eberhard‐Gran, M., Eskild, A., Tambs, K., Samuelsen, S. O., & Opjordsmoen, S. (2002) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1034/j.1600-0447.2002.02408.x · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Taxonomies of situations from a trait psychological perspective. A review
ten Berge, M. A., & Raad, B. D. (1999) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-0984(199909/10)13:5 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Brief Scales to Detect Postpartum Depression and Anxiety Symptoms
O'Hara, M., Stuart, S., Watson, D., Dietz, P., Farr, S., & D'Angelo, D. V. (2012) · Journal of Women's Health · doi:10.1089/jwh.2012.3612 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Self-citationAssessment of Trait and State Aspects of Depression in Schizophrenia
Chiappelli, J., Nugent, K. L., Thangavelu, K., Searcy, K., & Hong, L. E. (2013) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbt069 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Kroska, E. B., & Stowe, Z. N. (2020) · Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.ogc.2020.05.001 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Leng, L. L., Yin, M. X. C., & Ng, S. M. (2023) · Comprehensive Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2023.152375 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Pettman, D., O'Mahen, H., Skoog Svanberg, A., von Essen, L., Axfors, C., Blomberg, O., & Woodford, J. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032659 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Stafford, A. M., Tsumura, H., & Pan, W. (2021) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-021-01447-7 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Han, H., Yu, X., Li, H., & Sun, N. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1676105 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
The Role of Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Treating Depression among Population Subgroups
Saiuk, N., Kołodziej, M., Kozicz, M. A., Mądry, W., Mazurkiewicz, A., Męczyńska, J., Seredyński, T., Wojciechowska, A., Marcicka, J., & Salasa, W. (2024) · Journal of Education Health and Sport · doi:10.12775/jehs.2024.66.007
- Authors
- Merkitch, K. G., Jonas, K. G., & O’Hara, M. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Iowa (US)
- Corresponding author
- Merkitch, Kristen G.
- Venue
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-12
- Volume
- 223
- Pages
- 69-75
- ISSN
- 0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2735154795
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 0.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare
- Keywords
- postpartum depression, trait depression, depressive state, childbirth, maternal depression, depression vulnerability
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Depression, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Models, Psychological, Pregnancy, Depression, Postpartum, Parturition, Delivery, Obstetric, Postpartum Period, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
