Running Head: EFFECTS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ON SPOUSES AND CHILD 1

The Blues of Postpartum Depression

Gabriela Hernandez

Loras College
EFFECTS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ON SPOUSES AND CHILD 2

Abstract
Depression in mothers is associated with depression risks in fathers and behavioral problems in their
child. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of depression in mothers on their spouses and
childs functioning of depression. A longitudinal study is formed with measuring of The Edinburgh
Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Rutter Revised Preschool, and The Development and Well-Being
Assessment (DAWBA) questionnaire at 18 of their partners pregnancy and again at 8 weeks after the
birth of their infant, when the child is 3 years old and lastly when the child is 7 years old. Results a
predicted to show that fathers will have higher levels of depression and their child will have higher
behavioral issues due to a mothers postpartum depression. Further research is needed to conclude
which factors of the mothers postpartum depression negatively affect a father and their child.
EFFECTS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ON SPOUSES AND CHILD 3

The baby blues, low spirits, heaviness of heart and melancholy. Each of these words all
describe the overall feelings that some new mothers with their child get. Instead of using these
common words though these mothers all have postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is
feelings of sadness and anxiety can be extreme and might interfere with a womans ability to
care for herself or her family. According to MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia More than 3
million women per year are diagnosed with postpartum depression and 1 in every 7 women will
get postpartum depression. Some symptoms of postpartum depression might include insomnia,
loss of appetite, intense irritability, and difficulty bonding with their baby. Most women between
the ages of 19-40 can get postpartum depression those who develop postpartum depression are at
greater risk of developing major depression later on in life and if left untreated the condition may
last longer than months. Some treatments include counseling, antidepressants, or hormone
therapy. Because of the harsh realities of postpartum depression mothers have concerns not only
within themselves but with the relationships between their child and their spouse.
Because of the negative effects of postpartum depression on a mothers own body and self
the relationship between a mother and her child is greatly affected. A research study from
OHara and Philips studied is a longitudinal study that took 4 and half years and looked at 70 out
of 99 women on postpartum depression. Researchers predicted that women would have an
increase in depression and have poor adjustment of their child. Researchers concluded that
women who experienced postpartum may have an increased risk for later maternal depression
and in turn increases risk for child behavior problems in the future. The results of this
longitudinal study showed that overall a mothers postpartum depression can negatively affect a
childs relationship with their mother. Now that the relationship of a mother and her child can be
established a discontenting when a mother has postpartum depression in what areas of a childs
growth would be effected by the postpartum depression. In a study by Pope and Mazmanian this
literature review focuses on how postpartum depression can affect breastfeeding in a mother and
her child. The researchers found that when looking at past research based on this subject there
was a lot of connection between intention, initiation, duration, and dose. Because breast feeding
is fundamental necessity for most children losing the base of not having breast milk overall
effects the babys attitude towards the mother and the mother towards the child. Studies also
show that infants showed the lowest levels of social engagement during interactions with their
mothers, were unable to self-regulate during situations that introduced uniqueness, fussed and
cried more often, and their physiological stress response showed both higher baseline levels and
a more distinct stress reactivity (Whiffen, 1988). During the first two to three years of their lives,
children grow millions of neural connections a second and in order to allow their brains to
develop in whatever way best suits their environment. This adaptability, called neural plasticity,
decreases with age, as the most used connections thicken and strengthen and the neglected ones
wither and shrink. This brief window of phenomenal adaptability allows children to learn
complex procedures, such as motor skills and language, at an incredible rate. Unfortunately, it
also makes them vulnerable to the anxiety, frustration and emotional strain caused by depression.
EFFECTS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ON SPOUSES AND CHILD 4

These problems sink into their malleable brains, leaving marks that may never fully disappear.
Consequently, children of depressed parents have a heightened risk of many emotional,
intellectual and behavioral problems especially when both parents are suffering from
depression (OHara, Schlechte, Lewis & Varner, 1991).
Living with a new mother experiencing postpartum depression is difficult. Partners need
a lot of support and are known to be at risk of developing depression themselves. They often feel
confused, lost and helpless. They can be the target of their partner's distress and irritability as she
attempts to make sense of what is happening to her. Not only is he or she expected to stop being
the cause of her distress, he or she is expected to know how and when to listen to her, support
her, and to know exactly the right things to say. The relationship between the parents may
become stressed or even threatened by the conflict created by the mother's distress and intense
needs within the relationship and the spouses struggles to know how to support their partner.
Important decisions about the relationship should ideally be postponed until the depression has
improved. "It may not be that a difficult relationship causes depression; rather that depression
can cause problems in the marital relationship (Don and Mickelson, 2012). In the study made
by Soliday, Mccluskey and Obrien which studied the affective of postpartum depression and
how that affects a couples relationship in the first few months of a child being born. Each couple
completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the Positive and Negative
Affect Schedule, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale-Short Form, the Parenting Stress Index-Short
Form, and the COPE subscales measuring coping, marital satisfaction, stress, positive and
negative affect, and depression. Researchers found that more than one fourth of both mother and
fathers reported having elevated symptoms. This research was very well organized and it helped
that it focused on the relationships between the mother and the father which can greatly affect
postpartum depression in a women and as the results showed it can transfer to the father as well.
Another issues with a spouse can be intimacy. For most couples, intimacy and the frequency of
intercourse changes or weeks or months after having a baby. After delivery, there is common
discomfort and/or pain with intercourse for women, and most couples are exhausted after
sleepless days and nights of caring for a newborn. Combine that with the demand of
breastfeeding for those who go this route, and many couples will spend much less time being
intimate. In fact, one study showed that 50% women and 20% men report reduced sexual
responsiveness for 6-12 months postpartum. And one-third of couples with report this 2/3 years
after birth (Soliday, Mccluskey & Obrien, 1999). Women who are struggling with depression
will have an extra challenge here as lowered libido is one of the very common symptoms of
depression and at times a side effect of antidepressant medication.
Overall the hardships of a postpartum depression lays heavily on not only the mother but
the father and child as well. By going more detailed in researching this topic we can understand
how much negative effects of postpartum depression effect a father and child more intently.
EFFECTS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ON SPOUSES AND CHILD 5

Method
Participants
This research aims to study the effects that postpartum depression has on children and
fathers. Participants used were families consisting of pregnant women and new (less than six
weeks postpartum) mothers and their spouse. Also Including those at no known risk and those
identified as at-risk of developing postpartum depression. Approximately 500 participants are
being recruited between the ages of 20-35. Participants will be recruited through clinical doctors
with the consent of both the doctor and patient.
Materials and Procedures
Fathers and mothers will be assessed in week 18 of their partners pregnancy and again at
8 weeks after the birth of their infant. Questionnaires were sent to mothers and fathers at regular
points during and after pregnancy. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used
to assess symptoms of depression in both mothers and fathers. The EPDS is a well-validated,
widely used, self-report questionnaire that consists of ten items. Scores of more than 12 identify
a conclusion of major depressive disorder in women (Cox, Holden, & Sagovsky, 1987).
At age 3 childrens emotional and behavioral problems were measured using maternal
reports on the Rutter Revised Preschool Scales (Rutter, 1967). Each item on this measure
describes a characteristic or behavior, with three possible responses: Yes certainly, Yes
sometimes, No. Individual items combine to form three problem scales, as well as a prosocial
behaviors scale. All problem behaviors combine to give a total problems scale, with a higher
score resulting in higher behavioral complications.
The Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) questionnaire would be
completed by parents and teachers about the children when they were 7 years old (Goodman,
Ford, Richards, Gatward, & Meltzer, 2000). The questionnaire requests about psychiatric
symptoms and their resulting impact, generating DSM-5 psychiatric diagnoses. Parents and
teachers would be asked to provide written details of the nature of each of the symptoms, and
how they impact the childs functioning. The questionnaire responses are reviewed by certified
clinical doctors and provides likely diagnoses where appropriate. The DAWBA has been
validated, and used in a National Survey of over 10,000 children and adolescents in the UK
(Ford, Goodman, & Meltzer, 2003). General biography questions were also obtained including:
The age of the father and mother at the time of the childs birth, The number of other children in
EFFECTS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ON SPOUSES AND CHILD 6

the family at the time of the childs birth, Paternal educational level, Paternal ethnicity, Social
class, Marital status, Past history of severe depression- in a self-reported question.

Results
If this research is to be conducted. A one way analysis with repeated measures t-test
would be conducted to show results of the different groups. Descriptive statics would be used on
a Chi-squared analysis to predict there significance with each other.
The results are predicated to conclude that when mothers and fathers with a risk of
depression or a history of depression take The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)
results would be high on the sale of 12. Scores on the Rutter Revised Preschool Scales would
also score high as well. Showing that depression is affecting a child. Lastly The Development
and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) questionnaire would also be receiving high results with
children having more disorders then those children who parents do not have depression.

Discussion
The aim of this research study was to see the effects that postpartum depression have on
mothers, father and a child. This study is expected to support the hypothesis. Meaning that
mothers and fathers who have depression will negatively affect their child as well. More research
needs to be done to raise more questions and further along this topic
From past studies it has been found that mothers suffering from postpartum depression
give more negative descriptions of their children than control mothers and report more
behavioral problems in their infants (Murray, 1988). Further research should be tested on
children to find out why children might be having more behavior problems compared to other
children. Predicated results can also show if the father would greatly impact the childs
behavioral problems more than the mother. This could ultimately lead to questions of gender of a
child. Would females have a greater chance of depression then men or would it completely be
the other way around. When comparing the depression of a father that could be a completely
different matter. According Soliday his Researcher found that more than one fourth of both
mother and fathers reported having elevated symptoms of depression during the first few months
of a child being born. Future research could explore the relationship of a father and how much
depression he goes through compared to a mother. It could also be a great question in asking if a
child is more attached to mother or father. In conclusion this could open new ideas to research
and open up the topic of rising postpartum depression in mothers and how we can overall start
fixing this solution.
EFFECTS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ON SPOUSES AND CHILD 7

References
Don, B. P., & Mickelson, K. D. (2012). Paternal postpartum depression: The role of maternal
postpartum depression, spousal support, and relationship satisfaction. Couple and Family
Psychology: Research and Practice, 1(4), 323-334. doi:10.1037/a0029148

Cox, J.L., Holden, J.M., & Sagovsky, R. (1987). Detection of postnatal depression. Development
of the
10- item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150,
782786.

Goodman, R., Ford, T., Richards, H., Gatward, R., & Meltzer, H. (2000). The Development and
Well-
Being Assessment: Description and initial validation of an integrated assessment of child
and
adolescent psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 645655.

Murray, L. (1988). Effects of postnatal depression on infant development: direct studies of early
motherinfant interactions. In R.Kumar & I. F. Brockington (Eds.), Motherhood & Mental
Ilness
2: Causes and Consequences London: Wright.
EFFECTS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ON SPOUSES AND CHILD 8

O'Hara, M. W., Schlechte, J. A., Lewis, D. A., & Varner, M. W. (1991). Controlled prospective
study of postpartum mood disorders: Psychological, environmental, and hormonal
variables.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100(1), 63-73.

Philipps, L. H., & O'Hara, M. W. (1991). Prospective study of postpartum depression: 4-year
follow-up of women and children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology,100(2), 151-155.
Pope, C. J., & Mazmanian, D. (2016). Breastfeeding and postpartum depression: An
overview
and methodological recommendations for future research. Depression Research &
Treatment, 1-
9. doi:10.1155/2016/4765310

Postpartum depression: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 06,

2016, from https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007215.htm

Rutter, M. (1967). A childrens behaviour questionnaire for completion by teachers: preliminary

findings.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 1-11.

Soliday, E., Mccluskey-Fawcett, K., & O'brien, M. (1999). Postpartum affect and depressive
symptoms in mothers and fathers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 69(1), 30-38.
doi:10.1037/h0080379

Whiffen, V. E. (1988). Vulnerability to postpartum depression: A prospective multivariate

study.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97(4), 467-474.
doi:10.1037//0021-843x.97.4.467