Patterns of Symptoms of Perinatal Depression and Stress in Late Adolescent and Young Adult Mothers.
Rosamar Torres, Deepika Goyal, Amanda C Burke-Aaronson and 2 others
PMID 28888919WHAT IT FOUND
First-time mothers aged 18 to 20 reported more frequent depression symptoms and higher perceived stress than mothers aged 21 to 24.
Scores generally declined from late pregnancy through 3 months postpartum.
Key findings
01Late adolescent first-time mothers had higher depression scores than young adult first-time mothers.
02Late adolescent first-time mothers had higher perceived stress scores than young adult first-time mothers.
03Depression and perceived stress scores generally declined over time for both age groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 34 late adolescent and 48 young adult women were analysed, so the study is small. It was a secondary analysis of control-group data from two earlier studies, so it could not test interventions. Participants were first-time, low-risk, English-literate mothers in San Francisco, and most were unemployed with incomes below $1250, so results may not apply to other groups. The maternal adjustment scale did not have acceptable reliability, so adjustment findings were limited to two items. Late pregnancy depression scores may include normal pregnancy symptoms such as poor appetite or restless sleep. Data were collected from studies completed in 2005 and 2008, which may limit relevance to current mothers.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflict of interest or relevant financial relationships.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the decline in scores over time as evidence that late adolescent mothers will improve without support. They still reported more frequent depression symptoms and higher perceived stress than young adult mothers, and this study did not test whether treatment helps.