AccScience Publishing / JCBP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/jcbp.4089
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Changes in core depressive symptoms over time in peripartum women: A network analysis

Yuqun Zhang1 ,  Ju Gao2 ,  Meixia Qin3 ,  Weiying Zhao3 ,  Yi Ding4 ,  Xin Yue4*
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1 Department of Humanities and Nursing, School of Nursing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
2 Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Suzhou Psychiatric Hospital, the Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jiangbei Campus, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
4 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Hospital of Nanjing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
JCBP, 4089 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.4089
Submitted: 30 June 2024 | Accepted: 3 September 2024 | Published: 17 October 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Perinatal depression (PND) is a prevalent mental health condition that affects women during pregnancy and after childbirth. Distinct clinical subtypes of PND exist, with the timing of symptom onset being a pivotal element in the classification of these subtypes. However, the specific manifestations of PND across the various stages of pregnancy and the postpartum period remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to explore the changes in depression symptoms with the stage of pregnancy. Women in their second (n = 161) and third trimesters (n = 248) of pregnancy as well as those in their first 6 weeks of the postpartum period (n = 110) were recruited. Each patient was evaluated using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. A network analysis approach was used to explore the interconnections among depressive symptoms across the different time periods. Women in the postpartum period exhibited the most pronounced prevalence of PND and severity of depressive symptoms. In the second and third trimesters, “sadness and misery” was the most central symptom. However, its prominence diminished after childbirth. “Fear and panic” was the predominant symptom in the postpartum network. The structural integrity of PND symptom networks was maintained across all three periods, with consistent strength and closeness. This study demonstrates the temporal evolution of PND’s central symptoms in women during and after pregnancy, transitioning from depression-centric to anxiety-centric manifestations. These findings advocate for symptom-specific interventions to enhance the mental well-being of mothers and their offspring. Furthermore, this study offers clinical insights into the biological underpinnings of PND subtypes, facilitating precise diagnosis and targeted treatment strategies.

Keywords
Perinatal depression
Different periods
Central symptoms
Network analysis
Subtype
Funding
This work was funded by the Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Jiangsu Government Scholarship for Overseas Studies (grant number, 2020- 039), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number, 82001426), School-based Youth Project Funding (grant number, NZY82001426) and Doctoral Talent Program of Suzhou Guangji Hospital (2022B01).
Conflict of interest
Yuqun Zhang is an Editorial Board Member of this journal but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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Journal of Clinical and Basic Psychosomatics, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4414 Print ISSN: 3060-8562, Published by AccScience Publishing
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