Women's persistent depressive and perinatal grief symptoms following a miscarriage: the role of childlessness and satisfaction with healthcare services.

Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: Austria NLM ID: 9815663 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1435-1102 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14341816 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Arch Womens Ment Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Wien ; New York : Springer, c1998-

Adaptation, Psychological* ; Grief* ; Personal Satisfaction*; Abortion, Spontaneous/*psychology ; Depression/*diagnosis; Adult ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression/etiology ; Depression/psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Life Change Events ; Pregnancy ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Time Factors

The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to determine whether depressive and perinatal grief symptoms vary according to time since miscarriage and to test whether childlessness and satisfaction with healthcare services influence symptom duration. A total of 245 women who had experienced a miscarriage answered a self-report questionnaire, indicating the date of their miscarriage and assessing their present level of depressive and perinatal grief symptoms. They also provided sociodemographic characteristics and indicated their level of satisfaction with healthcare services. One-way analyses of variance indicated that women who had miscarried within the past 6 months reported higher scores for depressive symptoms than did women who had miscarried between 7 and 12 months ago and more than 2 years ago. However, when controlling for childlessness and satisfaction with healthcare services, those differences became respectively marginal and non-significant, indicating that depressive symptoms are similar across time for more than 2 years after the loss. Regarding perinatal grief, results revealed that symptoms significantly decreased across time only for women with children and women who were satisfied with healthcare services. For childless women and those dissatisfied with healthcare services, perinatal grief symptoms did not vary according to time since miscarriage. Results suggest that, particularly for women who are childless and/or dissatisfied with healthcare services, depressive and perinatal grief symptoms persist long after a miscarriage. These results highlight the importance of paying particular attention to more vulnerable women and of improving healthcare services post-miscarriage.

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26811 International Fonds Québécois de recherche - santé

Keywords: Childlessness; Depression; Miscarriage; Perinatal grief; Satisfaction with healthcare services

Date Created: 20170618 Date Completed: 20180319 Latest Revision: 20181113

20240829

PMC5599434

10.1007/s00737-017-0742-9

28623418