Within the abused group, the risk of postpartum depression was more than doubled for women who were younger than age 20 (odds ratio, 2.29) or aged 35 years or older (OR, 2.33) relative to their peers aged 20-34 years. In addition, the risk was more than twice as high for abused women who had depression before pregnancy (OR, 2.23).
Marital status, education, employment, ethnicity and immigration status, income, and whether pregnancy was planned did not significantly influence this outcome among abused women.
In adjusted analyses that focused on the timing of abuse, women who were abused only before pregnancy (OR, 3.28), starting after pregnancy (OR, 4.76), or before, during, and after pregnancy (OR, 6.62) were all significantly more likely to have postpartum depression than were their nonabused peers. The results were generally the same when women with preexisting depression were excluded.
When analyses were restricted to just the threatened types of abuse, risk was significantly elevated among women whose abuse occurred only before pregnancy (OR, 2.29), began during pregnancy and continued afterward (OR, 2.62), started after pregnancy (OR, 5.28), or occurred before, during, and after pregnancy (OR, 10.52). Again, the results were generally the same when women with preexisting depression were excluded.
“Women who are abused women have higher rates of postpartum depression,” Dr. Janssen said. “I hope this will encourage people to screen more for abuse, if they recognize that it's a risk factor for depression.”
Those at the extremes of childbearing age or with preexisting depression appear to be especially vulnerable. Thus, “if we do know that women are abused, we should be paying particular attention to the risk for postpartum depression among those women.”