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BackgroundOne in seven women experience postpartum depression, posing a serious public health concern. One of the most robust predictors of elevated postpartum depressive symptoms is major stressful life events that occur during pregnancy. Having greater resilience resources that promote successful adaptation to stressful demands may be protective in the face of stress during pregnancy. The current study tested whether three resilience resources- mastery, dispositional optimism, and spirituality- each predicted early symptoms of postpartum depression and moderated the hypothesized association between experiencing stressful life events during pregnancy and symptoms of postpartum depression.MethodsThe sample included 233 women who participated in a prospective longitudinal study from pregnancy through postpartum. Depressive symptoms were assessed at approximately 4 to 8 weeks after birth, whereas resilience resources and stressful life events were measured in pregnancy. Multiple linear regressions were used to test hypotheses.ResultsStressful life events predicted greater symptoms of depression postpartum. Mastery and optimism predicted fewer symptoms of depression postpartum. Mastery moderated the association between stressful life events and symptoms of depression when controlling for previous psychiatric history, t(231) = -1.97, p=.0497.LimitationsThere was some attrition among study participants across timepoints, which was accounted for in analyses with multiple imputation.ConclusionsThese findings point to the protective nature of a mother's sense of mastery in the face of major life stressors during pregnancy and suggest this is an important construct to target in interventions addressing postpartum depression.

Objectives The purpose of this article was to describe the findings from a systematic review, quality review, and meta-analysis of risk factors for postpartum depression among adult Latinas in the United States. Methods Databases were searched from inception to May 2020 for studies published in English related to Latina/Hispanic mothers and risk factors of postpartum depression. Of 115 abstracts screened, 10 met the inclusion criteria for the review and meta-analysis. Eleven risk factors from these studies were included: acculturation, age, economic stress, education, marital status, number of children, prenatal depression, recent and remote intimate partner violence (IPV), general social support, and partner/father's social support. Results Partner/father's social support had a large effect size. Prenatal depression and recent IPV had medium effect sizes, while education, economic stress, general social support and remote IPV had small effect sizes. Negligible effect sizes were found for age, marital status, number of children, and acculturation. Conclusions Prenatal depression, IPV, social support (general and from partner/father), economic stress and education are risk factors that should be screened for when working with perinatal Latinas. Future directions for clinical practice and research are discussed., Author(s): Lisa M. Edwards [sup.1] , Huynh-Nhu Le [sup.2] , Mauricio Garnier-Villarreal [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.259670.f, 0000 0001 2369 3143, Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology, Marquette University, [...]

La depresión prenatal es un importante problema de salud pública que apenas recibe tratamiento. La depresión durante este período está asociada con consecuencias negativas tanto para la madre como para el bebé. Por ello, es importante realizar un cribado adecuado en mujeres embarazadas. El objetivo del presente estudio fue conocer la capacidad discriminativa y el punto de corte del cuestionario PHQ-2 como primer instrumento de cribado para identificar la depresión en mujeres embarazadas que viven en España. Método: Participaron voluntariamente 1.019 mujeres, de edad comprendida entre los 19 y los 45 años, que acudieron a revisión obstétrica en el primer trimestre del embarazo. Las participantes completaron un cuestionario sociodemográfico y los cuestionarios PHQ9 y PHQ2. La investigación fue desarrollada en dos hospitales públicos de dos comunidades autónomas diferentes. Se llevó a cabo entre los años 2014 y 2016. Se realizó un análisis con curva ROC para determinar la capacidad discriminativa y el punto de corte del PHQ-2. Resultados: De las 1.019 participantes el 11,1% fueron diagnosticadas de depresión. El área bajo la curva del PHQ2 fue de 0,84 p

Amaranth is a very important vegetable worldwide. Its leaves are consumed and the seeds are processed into various food products. Its production in the tropics is threatened by low yields which has a major impact on global production. A research aimed at improving the yield of this vegetable was carried out at lady bird organic farm Broga, 2.9450N 101.8740E, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia by studying the effect of genotype and organic fertilizer on the following growth indicators, red:far red ratio below canopy, stomatal conductance, leaf temperature, and dry weight. These growth indicators were monitored on a weekly basis over a period of six weeks. Three genotypes namely, Amaranthus caudatus, 3388 (green round leaf), Amaranthus caudatus, 3233 (green long leaf) and Amaranthus cruentus, 888 (red leaf) were grown on soils to which organic fertilizer was added at three different application rates (0 t/ha, 7.5 t/ha and 15 t/ha). There was no significant interaction effect of genotype and organic fertilizer on the growth indicators; however, each of these factors had significant effect on the growth of amaranth. A strong negative correlation occurred between dry weight and red:far red ratio below canopy likewise, between stomatal conductance and leaf temperature. Over a cultivation period of five weeks, the green long leaf genotype was superior showing that it is better adapted to growing in the rainforest agro ecological zone of Malaysia than the other two genotypes. Organic fertilizer application at a rate of 15 t/ha produced the lowest leaf temperature, after 4 weeks of cultivation implying better water status than 0 t/ha and 7.5 t/ha application rates. This study clearly shows that genotype and organic fertilizer have significant effect on the growth of amaranth. Therefore, these factors can be manipulated in order to enhance amaranth production.

Objective: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral (CBT) intervention to prevent perinatal depression in high-risk Latinas. Method: A sample of 217 participants, predominantly low-income Central American immigrants who met demographic and depression risk criteria, were randomized into usual care (UC; n = 105) or an 8-week CBT group intervention during pregnancy and 3 individual booster sessions during postpartum (n = 112). Participants completed measures assessing depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale at baseline; Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition [BDI-II]) and major depressive episodes (Mood Screener) at 5 time points throughout the perinatal period. Results: Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that intervention participants had significantly lower depressive symptoms and fewer cases of moderate depression (BDI-II [greater than or equal] 20) at Time 2 than UC participants. These effects were stronger for women who fully participated in the intervention ([greater than or equal] 4 classes). The cumulative incidence of major depressive episodes was not significantly different between the intervention (7.8%) and UC (9.6%) groups. Conclusions: A CBT intervention for low-income, high-risk Latinas reduced depressive symptoms during pregnancy but not during the postpartum period. Low levels of depressive symptoms and lower than expected rates of clinical depression in both groups may partially be due to methodological issues. As perinatal depression is a significant public health problem, more work is needed to prevent perinatal depression in low-income, ethnically diverse women. (Contains 1 figure, 2 tables, and 5 footnotes.)

A prenatal intervention designed to prevent the onset of major depressive episodes (MDEs) during pregnancy and postpartum was pilot tested at a public sector women's clinic. The "Mamas y Bebes"/Mothers and Babies Course is an intervention developed in Spanish and English that uses a cognitive-behavioral mood management framework, and incorporates social learning concepts, attachment theory, and socio-cultural issues. The four goals of this project were to develop the intervention, assess its acceptability, test the feasibility of conducting a randomized trial with public sector patients, and obtain estimates of its effect size. Forty-one pregnant women at high risk for developing MDEs were randomized to the Mothers and Babies Course (n = 21) or a comparison condition (n = 20). Assessments occurred during pregnancy and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum. Differences in terms of depression symptom levels or incidence of MDEs between the two groups did not reach statistical significance in this pilot trial. However, the MDE incidence rates of 14% for the intervention condition versus 25% for the comparison condition represent a small effect size (h = 0.28) that will be further examined in a larger scale study. The intervention was well received by the participants and implementation of a randomized trial appeared quite feasible as indicated by our follow-up rate of 91% at 12 months. Implications for the continuing development of preventive interventions for perinatal depression are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

A growing research literature highlights the public health need for preventive interventions to reduce symptoms and incidence of perinatal depression among vulnerable populations. The Mothers and Babies (MB) course is a cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to teach mood regulation skills to English- and Spanish-speaking low-income women at high risk for perinatal depression. We describe the development of the MB course and evaluate the extent to which research findings support efficacy, effectiveness, and dissemination based on the Society for Prevention Research Standards Committee's standards of evidence. Our review of research and implementation activities suggests that the MB intervention demonstrates promising evidence for efficacy in reducing depressive symptoms; empirical support for prevention of major depressive episodes is still preliminary. Work is in progress to evaluate program effectiveness and prepare for broad dissemination and implementation. The MB course shows promise as an intervention for low-income women at risk for perinatal mood issues. Spanish and English intervention materials have been developed that can be delivered in different settings (hospitals, home visiting), in different dosages (6, 8, or 12 sessions), and via different modalities (group, individual). Evaluating the MB course against current standards is intended to inform other prevention intervention development research., Author(s): Huynh-Nhu Le[sup.1] , Deborah F. Perry[sup.2] , Tamar Mendelson[sup.3] , S. Darius Tandon[sup.4] , Ricardo F. Muñoz[sup.5] [sup.6] Author Affiliations: (1) George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA (2) Georgetown [...]

This study aimed to identify subgroups of pregnant women at imminent (1 year) risk for major depressive episodes. Participants were 84 low-income, predominantly Mexican women using public sector obstetrics services who participated in monthly interviews during pregnancy and up to 6 months postpartum. Participants were designated a priori as "more vulnerable" or "less vulnerable" to future perinatal depression based on evidence of mood regulation problems defined as (a) a self-reported history of major depressive episodes, (MDE) and/or (b) high current depressive symptom scores on a continuous depression scale. Two definitions of a major depressive episode based on meeting 2 or 3 DSM-IV MDE criteria, were used to measure the incidence of a new major depressive episode. Results suggest that more vulnerable groups (i.e., with the greatest mood regulation problems) had a higher incidence of major depressive episodes than less vulnerable groups. Implications for screening and developing preventive interventions for postpartum depression are discussed.

Pregnancy represents a unique period of time when women are at an increased risk of developing depression. Although the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) is one of the most widely used self-report measures of depression symptomology, its psychometric properties and underlying factor structures have not been determined for antenatal women and among Latinas. The current study evaluated the latent symptom structure of the BDI-II in a community-based sample of Latina pregnant women (N = 217) identified to be at high risk for depression. Exploratory factor analyses were used to identify underlying salient individual item loadings for two- and three-factor models. Confirmatory factor analyses then examined several different indices to determine the best model fit. Examination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supports a three-factor oblique structure of the BDI-II composed of Cognitive-Affective, Somatic, and Pregnancy Symptoms. The three-factor model provides clinicians with the ability to target specific constellations of depressive symptoms instead of relying on the BDI-II total score that represents the overall severity of depression in this population. Keywords Depression * Pregnancy * Perinatal depression * Latinas * Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II), Introduction Depression is the leading cause of disease-related disability among women [1]. Although motherhood is a normal phase of life, women are at an increased risk of developing depressive disorders [...]