Longitudinal Effects of Significant Depressive Symptoms at 4 Months Postpartum on Infant and Maternal Health-Related Quality of Life at 8, 12, and 16 Months Postpartum (Adjusted)*
| Infant Health-Related Quality of Life | Maternal Health-Related Quality of Life | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pain/Discomfort (n = 203) | Health-Related Concerns (n = 203) | MCS (n = 202) | PCS (n = 202) | |
| Depressive symptoms | 0.24 (0.080)† | 0.14 (0.042)† | −1.20 (0.045) | −1.19 (0.699) |
| Covariates | ||||
| Age (years) | ||||
| 18–24 | −0.09 (0.141) | −0.10 (0.075) | −1.53 (1.415) | 1.11 (1.233) |
| 25–34 | 0.08 (0.085) | −0.01 (0.045) | 0.22 (0.856) | 0.69 (0.748) |
| Maternal race | ||||
| African American | −0.26 (0.101)‡ | −0.12 (0.053)‡ | −0.51 (0.975) | 0.29 (0.850) |
| Maternal education | ||||
| ≥College | 0.00 (0.080) | −0.06 (0.042) | 0.88 (0.802) | 0.06 (0.702) |
| Marital status | ||||
| Married | 0.13 (0.114) | 0.02 (0.060) | −0.85 (1.162) | 3.22 (1.007)† |
| Poverty status | ||||
| At/below poverty | 0.14 (0.164) | −0.02 (0.086) | −1.00 (1.672) | 2.80 (1.441) |
| Baseline | 0.22 (0.056)§ | 0.25 (0.050)§ | 0.51 (0.057)§ | 0.33 (0.053)§ |
All data provided as β (SE).
↵* Reference groups in the models are women aged 35+ years, European American, less than college education, unmarried, and above poverty. All models control for the effects of time and earlier assessments of health-related quality of life. Models for children also control for child sex and birth weight.
↵† P ≤ .01.
↵‡ P ≤ .05.
↵§ P ≤ .001.
MCS, Mental component summary from the 12-item Short Form; PCS, physical component summary from the 12-item Short Form.