ArticleReproductive health2025
Examining the associations between social support and postpartum depression symptoms among adolescent mothers in Nairobi, Kenya.
Article in Reproductive health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Navigating the care of preterm babies: physical care challenges and psychosocial stressors of adolescent mothers in Ghana.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Silenced, stigmatised and struggling: early childbearing, minority stress and mental distress among pregnant and parenting adolescent girls in an urban informal settlement in Kenya - an explanatory qualitative study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- "I am a mother but still a girl": a phenomenological study of postpartum emotional distress among adolescent mothers in Ghana.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Adolescent Pregnancies and Perinatal Mental Health-Needs and Complex Support Options: A Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
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4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundGlobally, adolescent mothers are at increased risk for postpartum depression (PPD). In Kenya, 15% of adolescent girls become mothers before the age of 18. While social support can buffer a mother's risk of PPD, there are gaps in knowledge as to whether-and which types-of social support are protective for adolescent mothers in Kenya. Understanding the associations between support and postpartum depression symptoms among adolescent mothers can inform mental health interventions.
methodsCross-sectional data of adolescent mothers ≤ 1 year postpartum (aged 14-19 years old) in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya (N = 193) were used in analyses. Participants with scores ≥ 10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were classified as having postpartum depressive symptoms. To fully examine the different ways that social support might matter for adolescent mothers, we examined several domains of social support: child's father support during pregnancy, parental support during pregnancy, parental support of girl's education, membership in a social club, having a good female friend and having a supportive female adult one can turn to for help. We used bivariate and adjusted modified Poisson regression with robust standard errors to examine the associations between support measures and depressive symptoms, controlling for relevant covariates.
resultsOne-quarter of participants experienced postpartum depressive symptoms (24.9%). Adolescent mothers who reported their mothers or their fathers as being very supportive of girls' education had a lower risk of depressive symptoms (ARR 0.35, 95% CI 0.20-0.61; ARR:0.34, 95% CI 0.13-0.90, respectively) than those whose mothers or fathers were less supportive. Adolescent mothers who had a good female friend to confide in had decreased risk of depressive symptoms (ARR 0.61; 95% CI 0.37-0.99).
conclusionsHaving a mother or father being very supportive of girls' education and having a good female friend reduced risk of depressive symptoms. With the unique challenges of early childbearing and high adolescent birth rates in Kenya, interventions which increase parental and peer support during pregnancy and the postpartum period could improve adolescent mothers' mental health.
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