Anxiety symptoms and disorders at eight weeks postpartum

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Abstract

Although the prevalence, risk factors for, and consequences of postpartum depression have been studied extensively, little work has examined the nature of postpartum anxiety disorders in community samples. In the present study, 147 community women completed a diagnostic interview and a battery of self-report inventories approximately eight weeks after childbirth. The rate of generalized anxiety disorder was elevated as compared to the rate in women representative of the general population. Depending on the particular domain of anxiety being considered, 10–50% of women reporting anxiety symptoms endorsed comorbid depressive symptoms. In hierarchical multiple regression analyses, different combinations of demographic and vulnerability variables predicted symptoms of somatic anxiety, social anxiety, and depression, although there were no significant predictors of worry symptoms. In addition, number of children, depression, and social anxiety predicted postpartum relationship distress. These results suggest that postpartum anxiety disorders are more common than postpartum depression and worthy of systematic study.

Section snippets

Participants

Birth records for women who delivered infants in Grand Forks, ND and its surrounding communities were obtained from announcements in the area’s major newspaper (n=754) over a nine month period. For women whose contact information was available through public data bases (e.g., telephone books, directory assistance; n=403), a letter describing the study was sent when they were approximately six weeks postpartum, and soon thereafter they were contacted by telephone to inquire about their interest

Rates of postpartum anxiety and depressive disorders

Table 1 displays prevalence rates of anxiety and depressive disorders, prevalence rates of sub-syndromal cases of anxiety and depressive disorders, and the number of participants who endorsed a postpartum onset of their symptoms. Postpartum prevalence rates of these diagnoses were as follows: GAD, 8.2%; OCD, 2.7%; PD, 1.4%; AG, 0%; SOC, 4.1%; PTSD, 0%; MDD, 4.8%; and DYS, 2.7%. One-year prevalence rates of these disorders in women representative of the general population are GAD, 4.3%; OCD,

Discussion

The present study is the first comprehensive investigation of the prevalence of postpartum anxiety disorders in a community sample of women. Results indicated that the rate of postpartum GAD was elevated as compared to the rate that characterizes women in the general population. In addition, between 40 and 50% of the women who were assigned anxiety or depressive disorder diagnoses endorsed a postpartum onset of their symptoms. Comorbid depressive symptoms were particularly common in individuals

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a University of North Dakota Summer Graduate Research Professorship, a University of North Dakota New Faculty Scholar Award, and a University of North Dakota Faculty Seed Grant. Portions of this research were presented at the 11th Biannual Meeting of the International Conference on Personal Relationships and the 36th Annual Meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy. The authors would like to thank Peter Schmuzter, Jason McCray, Kirsten Robinson,

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    Present address: McLean Hospital/Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.

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