Abuse as a risk factor for prenatal depressive symptoms: a meta-analysis.

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-

Child Abuse/*psychology ; Depression/*epidemiology ; Physical Abuse/*psychology ; Sex Offenses/*psychology; Adolescent ; Adult ; Adult Survivors of Child Abuse/psychology ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Care ; Risk Factors ; Young Adult

Depression is the most common mental disorder in pregnancy. An important risk factor in the development of prenatal depression is lifetime history of abuse. The current review quantitatively synthesized research on the association between history of abuse and prenatal depressive symptoms using a meta-analytic technique. A total of 3322 articles were identified through electronic searches of the following databases: PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE Cochrane Collaboration databases between the years of 1980 and 2016. All were independently screened against the following inclusion criteria: articles reporting on original data that included measures of prenatal depression and abuse. Data were extracted by the first and second authors. Descriptive analyses were conducted using Excel version 15.32, and all analyses involving effect sizes were conducted using comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA) version 3.0. Seventy articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analyses. Meta-bias detected no publication bias. Abuse had a significant positive relation with prenatal depressive symptoms, with effect sizes in the moderate range for any abuse ([Formula: see text] = 0.287), physical abuse ([Formula: see text] = 0.271), sexual abuse ([Formula: see text] = 0.259), and emotional abuse ([Formula: see text] = 0.340; Cohen 1969. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Academic Press, New York). The meta-analyses found a robust relation between abuse and prenatal depressive symptoms holding across a variety of demographic and study design characteristics. These results reinforce the established association between trauma victimization and subsequent psychopathology, extending current knowledge to specifically address the under-studied area of prenatal depression. These findings highlight the need for women who have survived child or adulthood abuse to receive appropriate referral and psychological treatment to mitigate their risk for prenatal depression.

Keywords: Abuse; Depression; Depressive symptoms; Intimate partner violence; Pregnancy; Prenatal

Date Created: 20180910 Date Completed: 20200427 Latest Revision: 20200427

20240513

10.1007/s00737-018-0900-8

30196369