Temperament and character of pregnant women, especially harm avoidance (HA) and self-directedness (SD) have been identified as risk factors for postpartum depression, in addition to poor social support. However, the relationship between these personality traits and social support for depressive symptoms after delivery has not been examined.
Data were extracted from a prospective cohort survey on pregnant women conducted in Nagoya, Japan that included the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), the Social Support Questionnaire (J-SSQ), and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at approximately week 25 and 1 month postpartum. A mediation analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test if social support in pregnancy is a mediator between personality traits and postpartum depressive symptoms.
Thousand five hundred and fifty-nine women were included in the analysis. Both harm avoidance and SD were significantly associated with depressive symptoms (total effect: β [SE], 0.298 [0.041],
Results indicate that poor social support worsens depressive symptoms in women with high HA during pregnancy. Limitations include a possible selection bias due to the limited target facilities; most variables being evaluated based on self-report questionnaires, and different number of samples available for analysis between harm avoidance and SD.