Publication
Title
Turning the pink cloud grey : dampening of positive affect predicts postpartum depressive symptoms
Author
Abstract
Objective Maladaptive response styles to negative affect have been shown to be associated with prospective (postpartum) depression. Whether maladaptive styles to positive affect are also critically involved is understudied, even though anhedonia (a correlate of low positive affectivity) is a cardinal symptom of depression. The present study is the first to investigate the predictive value of cognitive response styles to both negative (depressive rumination) and positive affect (dampening) for postpartum depressive symptoms. Methods During the third trimester of pregnancy, 210 women completed self-report instruments assessing depression (symptom severity and current and/or past episodes) and scales gauging the presence of depressive rumination and dampening. Of these women, 187 were retained for postpartum follow-up, with depressive symptoms being reassessed at 12 (n = 171) and 24 (n = 176) weeks after delivery. Results Regression analyses showed that higher levels of dampening of positive affect during pregnancy predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms at 12 and 24 weeks postpartum, irrespective of initial symptom severity, past history of depression and levels of rumination to negative affect. Prepartum trait levels of rumination, however, did not predict postpartum symptomatology when controlled for baseline symptoms and history of major depressive episode(s). Conclusions The results of this investigation suggest that the way women cognitively respond to positive affect contributes perhaps even more to the development of postpartum depression than maladaptive response styles to negative affect.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Journal of psychosomatic research. - Oxford
Publication
Oxford : 2014
ISSN
0022-3999
DOI
10.1016/J.JPSYCHORES.2014.04.003
Volume/pages
77 :1 (2014) , p. 64-69
ISI
000337645000010
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 07.05.2014
Last edited 09.10.2023
To cite this reference