Journal article
Pregnancy and levels of depression and anxiety: A prospective cohort study of Australian women
LS Leach, H Christensen, A Mackinnon
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry | Published : 2014
Abstract
Objective: The effects of pregnancy on depression and anxiety remain unclear. Previous research is predominantly cross-sectional, not representative of the general community, and does not include data on mental health prior to pregnancy. This study used longitudinal Australian population-based data to examine whether pregnancy is associated with increases in womens anxiety and depression levels (from pre-pregnancy).Method: A community sample of Australian women aged 2024 years were recruited prospectively and assessed in 1999, 2003 and 2007. At the follow-up assessments 76 women were pregnant (with no prior children) and 542 remained nulliparous. Mixed models repeated measures analyses of va..
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Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
The PATH Through Life Project is funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant number 418039. HC is funded by NHMRC fellowship number 525411. LL is funded by NHMRC fellowship number 1035803. The NHMRC had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors would like to thank T Slade for feedback on the methodology, analyses and final draft of the paper. In addition, the authors would like to thank KJ Anstey, AF Jorm, PJ Butterworth, PA Jacomb and K Maxwell for contributions to the design of the PATH Through Life Project and the PATH project participants.