Rates of self-reported postpartum depressive symptoms in the United States before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

This study aimed to determine the relationship between the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS) in individuals in the United States. Further analyses explored how these changes related to state-level measures of pandemic severity, economic hardship, and social isolation.

Methods

Data were collected from users of the Flo mobile health application who completed a survey about their mood within 90 days of giving birth. Analyses assessed changes in national and state-level self-reported PDS from a pre-pandemic period (N = 159,478) to a pandemic period (N = 118,622). Linear regression determined which state-level pandemic severity or economic factors were associated with changes in PDS.

Results

National rates of PDS

SUBMITTER: Bajaj MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9022477 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature