ArticleJournal of epidemiology and community health2021
Longitudinal effects of perinatal social support on maternal depression: a marginal structural modelling approach.
Article in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of interventions applied to pregnant and postpartum women on postpartum comfort: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Pooled it
- Bridges to treatment satisfaction: the roles of trauma, social support, race and ethnicity among perinatal women receiving behavioural activation therapy.BMC medicine · 2025Trial
- Machine Learning-Based Prediction of Antepartum Depression Symptoms: A Prospective Cohort Study.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Trajectories of Perinatal Depressive Symptoms from the Second Trimester to Three Months Postpartum and Their Dynamic Relationship with Social Support: A Prospective Cohort Study in Beijing, China.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Positive psychological capital and antenatal depression: the chain-mediating roles of social support and maternal health literacy in rural China.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Evolution of Life Satisfaction Throughout the Gestation Process and at Different Postpartum Stages.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Perinatal healthcare access, perceived quality, and preferences among historically underrepresented mother-infant dyads: a mixed methods study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Observational
- Stress across the perinatal period among low-income mothers and the moderating role of perceived social support.Journal of reproductive and infant psychology · 2025Article
- A Multilevel Framework for the Promotion of Maternal Mental Health and Well-Being During the Perinatal Period.Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Maternal self-efficacy during infancy: Investigating the roles of depression and social support among mothers in rural Pakistan.Infant mental health journal · 2025Article
- Neuroticism trait and postnatal depression among Chinese women: the mediating role of childbirth experience and the moderating role of perceived social support.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Review
- The Role of Social Support in Perinatal Mental Health and Psychosocial Stimulation.The Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2024Article
- Correlates of maternal depression, anxiety and functioning across an urban-rural gradient in northern Ecuador.Global public health · 2024Article
- The Day-in-the-Life method for assessing infant caregiving in rural Pakistan.Family relations · 2023Article
- Article
- Intimate partner violence and HIV treatment adherence in urban South Africa: Mediating role of perinatal common mental disorders.SSM. Mental health · 2022Article
- Pregnancy, Mental Well-Being and Lockdown: A Nationwide Online Survey in France.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Perceived social support on postpartum mental health: An instrumental variable analysis.PloS one · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDepression in the perinatal period, during pregnancy or within 1 year of childbirth, imposes a high burden on women with rippling effects through her and her child's life course. Social support may be an important protective factor, but the complex bidirectional relationship with depression, alongside a paucity of longitudinal explorations, leaves much unknown about critical windows of social support exposure across the perinatal period and causal impacts on future depressive episodes.
methodsThis study leverages marginal structural models to evaluate associations between longitudinal patterns of perinatal social support and subsequent maternal depression at 6 and 12 months postpartum. In a cohort of women in rural Pakistan (n=780), recruited in the third trimester of pregnancy and followed up at 3, 6 and 12 months postpartum, we assessed social support using two well-validated measures: the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the Maternal Social Support Index (MSSI). Major depressive disorder was assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV).
resultsHigh and sustained scores on the MSPSS through the perinatal period were associated with a decreased risk of depression at 12 months postpartum (0.35, 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.63). Evidence suggests the recency of support also matters, but estimates are imprecise. We did not find evidence of a protective effect for support based on the MSSI.
conclusionsThis study highlights the protective effect of sustained social support, particularly emotional support, on perinatal depression. Interventions targeting, leveraging and maintaining this type of support may be particularly important for reducing postpartum depression.
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Registered trials
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