Correlates of Perinatal Post-Traumatic Stress among Culturally Diverse Women with Depressive Symptomatology.
Julie Vignato, Cynthia D Connelly, Ruth A Bush and 4 others
PMID 30277842WHAT IT FOUND
Among 276 pregnant or postpartum women already showing depression symptoms, 30.4% showed perinatal PTSD symptoms.
Adult abuse, repeated or severe trauma, insomnia, and low social support were linked. Screening across pregnancy may help.
Key findings
01In 276 women with depressive symptoms, 84 (30.4%) screened positive for perinatal PTSD symptoms.
02Perinatal PTSD symptoms presented across pregnancy and postpartum: 32.2% (19/59) in the first trimester, 32.3% (30/93) in the second, 28.6% (22/77) in the third, and 27.7% (13/47) at the 6-week postpartum visit.
03Logistic regression linked perinatal PTSD symptoms to adult abuse, two or more instances of the most traumatic event, greater trauma intensity, insomnia, and lower social support.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Self-report screens were used instead of professional PTSD or depression diagnoses, so some women may be misclassified. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show which factors came before or caused PTSD symptoms. The sample was mostly Latina, low-income, and already had depressive symptoms plus at least one lifetime trauma, so results may not apply to all pregnant or postpartum women. Drug and alcohol use were not significant in the final model, but the authors suggest underreporting due to stigma, so substance use risk may be unclear. Some possible risk factors were not investigated.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these linked factors as causes or as a validated screening protocol. The study used self-report measures in women who already screened positive for depression, and it did not test whether screening or interventions improved outcomes.