Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Employment, and Social Support

Article Figures & Data

Table 1. Sample Characteristics by Postpartum Employment Status

Characteristics	Not Employed (n = 447; 63.9%)	Employed (n = 253; 36.1%)	Total (n = 700)	P Value^*
Race/ethnicity^{^†}
Non-Hispanic white	68.4	67.1	67.9
Non-Hispanic black	7.5	18.0	11.3
Hispanic	20.3	10.0	16.5
Other race	3.9	4.9	4.2	.007
Maternal age (years)^{^†}
18–24	27.7	31.8	29.2
25–29	29.0	23.9	27.1
30–34	25.3	30.0	27.0
≥35	18.0	14.4	16.7	.475
Educational attainment^{^†}
High school or less	48.9	30.7	42.3
College	44.3	55.9	48.5
More than college	6.8	13.5	9.2	.004
Marital status^{^‡}
Unmarried	20.1	33.6	25.0
Married	79.9	66.4	75.0	.013
Partnership status^{^‡}
Does not have partner	5.9	9.1	7.0
Has partner	94.1	90.9	93.0	.369
Family income^{^†}
Low (<$50,000)	54.7	43.5	50.6
Medium ($50,000–99,999)	32.3	36.0	33.6
High (≥$100,000)	13.1	20.5	15.8	.098
Baby's health status^{^‡}
Good health	96.9	96.0	96.6
Poor health	3.1	4.0	3.4	.558
Parity^{^†}
1	33.8	47.8	38.9
>1	66.2	52.2	61.2	.016
Recent maternal depression (first 8 weeks)^{^‡}
No depression	63.5	61.5	62.8
Minor depression	24.4	23.4	24.0
Major depression	12.1	15.1	13.2	.756
Maternal postpartum problems (mean)^{^§}
Minor physical problems	2.8	2.7	2.8	.761
Major physical problems	1.3	1.7	1.5	.123
Depressive symptoms (PHQ-2 = 3+)^{^‡}
No	79.2	87.3	82.1
Yes	20.9	12.7	17.9	.093

Data are percentages unless otherwise indicated. Note that estimates are self-weighted in accordance with the survey design for national representativeness. Reported
↵* P values are from χ² tests for categorical variables and adjusted Wald tests for continuous variables.
↵† Measure was created from item(s) on the Listening to Mothers II survey (baseline).
↵‡ Measure was created from item(s) on the Listening to Mothers II–Postpartum survey (follow-up).
↵§ Measure was created from Listening to Mothers II baseline and postpartum surveys combined.

Table 2. Social Support: Component Measures and Social Support Scales by Postpartum Employment Status (n = 700)

Measures/Scales	Not Employed	Employed	Total	P value^*
Partner support (among women with partners)
Components of social support from partner/husband (mean)
Mean emotional support	2.6	2.6	2.6	.652
Mean practical support	2.3	2.5	2.4	.434
Mean affectionate support	2.7	2.8	2.7	.782
Mean enjoyment support	2.4	2.5	2.4	.652
Partner support index (%)
Low (0–4)	15.9	10.6	14.0
Medium (5–8)	19.1	19.9	19.4
High (9–12)	33.8	39.7	35.9
Very high (13–16)	31.3	29.9	30.8	.565
Other support (among all women)
Components of social support from others (mean)
Mean emotional support	2.5	2.4	2.5	.242
Mean practical support	2.0	2.2	2.1	.199
Mean affectionate support	2.1	2.0	2.1	.347
Mean enjoyment support	2.0	2.2	2.1	.336
Other support index (%)
Low (0–4)	15.1	18.6	16.4
Medium (5–8)	35.0	33.4	34.4
High (9–12)	35.8	34.0	35.1
Very high (13–16)	14.1	14.1	14.1	.873
Combined support (among women who answered both support questions) (%)
No high support	23.0	20.7	22.2
High partner support only	27.1	29.0	27.8
High other support only	11.9	9.8	11.2
High partner and other support	38.0	40.6	38.9	.886

Women who do not have partners are excluded from calculations related to partner support variables, resulting in a weighted n of 651 for those variables.
↵* Reported P values are from χ² tests for categorical variables and adjusted Wald tests for continuous variables.

Table 3. Odds of Depressive Symptoms by Postpartum Employment Status and Social Support

Models control for race/ethnicity, age, education, marital status, family income, baby's health status, parity, maternal depression in the first 8 weeks postpartum, and a count of postpartum physical symptoms. Models are weighted to be nationally representative.
AOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Table 4. Odds of Depressive Symptoms by Postpartum Employment Status and Combined Forms of Social Support (n = 651)

	Unadjusted Model			Model Adjusted for Social Support			Fully Adjusted Model^*
	OR	95% CI	P	OR	95% CI	P	OR	95% CI	P
Postpartum employment
Not employed	1.00			1.00			1.00
Employed	0.51	0.24–1.11	.090	0.51	0.23–1.13	.098	0.33	0.13–0.81	.015
Social support
No high support				1.00			1.00
High partner support only				0.40	0.18–0.92	.031	0.51	0.21–1.26	.145
High other support only				0.21	0.07–0.67	.009	0.27	0.08–0.85	.025
High partner and other support				0.31	0.14–0.72	.006	0.37	0.15–0.91	.031

Models are weighted to be nationally representative. Women without partners are excluded.
↵* The fully adjusted model controls for race/ethnicity, age, education, marital status, family income, baby's health status, parity, maternal depression in the first 8 weeks postpartum, and a count of postpartum physical symptoms.
OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.