Paternal postpartum depression's relationship to maternal pre and postpartum depression, and father-mother dyads marital satisfaction: A structural equation model analysis of a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Fathers' depression is an understudied subject, and the increasing participation of fathers on the care of their children, this is an issue of great importance. This study aimed to determine the relationship of paternal postpartum depression with prenatal and postpartum depression of mothers and their marital satisfaction.

METHODS

This longitudinal study was conducted among 352 expecting couples in 28-40 weeks of pregnancy and 6-8 weeks after delivery from April to September 2019. Eligible participants were selected from primary health care centers in northern Iran using a two-stage sampling method. Socio-demographic information, Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, and ENRICH Couple Scale were used for data collection. The primary basis of data analysis was cross-lagged structural equation modeling to explore the underlying mechanism for paternal postpartum depression.

RESULTS

The results showed that a) maternal prenatal depression indirectly (β_stand = 0.32, p = 0.004); b) maternal postpartum depression directly (β_stand = 0.56, p <0.001); c) paternal prenatal depression indirectly (β_stand = 0.11, p = 0.028) were associated with paternal postpartum depression. Also, marital satisfaction directly (β_stand = -0.19, p = 0.002) and indirectly (β_stand = -0.11, p = 0.007) had a relationship to paternal postpartum depression.

LIMITATIONS

Culturally-sensitive measures of marital satisfaction, especially in conservative context of developing countries, along with self-reported data of psychological problems may lead to under-reported findings.

CONCLUSION

The major contribution of marital satisfaction and maternal depression during prenatal period on the paternal postpartum depression, emphasizes on the prenatal period as the ideal time for fathers' mental health improvement.

Personality traits and sexual self-efficacy in diabetic women: The mediating role of marital satisfaction and sexual function

INTRODUCTION

Although the relationship between personality traits and sexual self-efficacy has received theoretical and empirical support, there is little information on how personality affects the sexual self-efficacy of diabetic women. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of marital satisfaction and sexual function in the relationship between personality traits and sexual self-efficacy in diabetic women.

METHODS

Using a two-stage sampling method, 410 reproductive-aged Iranian women with type 2 diabetes were recruited in this descriptive-analytical study. The participants completed self-administered questionnaires, including the Vaziri Sexual Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, the Female Sexual Function Index, ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale, and the Goldberg's Big Five Questionnaire. To analyze the data, structural equation modeling was employed in Amos software version 24.

RESULTS

Results indicated an acceptable fit of the model to the data. Personality trait of openness to experience was associated with sexual self-efficacy directly (β = .02, p = .030) and indirectly through the mediators of marital satisfaction (β = .06, p = .009) and sexual function (β = .18, p = .014). Furthermore, sexual function was associated with sexual self-efficacy directly (β = .50, p = .025) and indirectly through the mediator of marital satisfaction (β = .36, p = .012).

CONCLUSION

Due to the mediating role of marital satisfaction and sexual function, this study has some practical implications for improving the sexual self-efficacy of diabetic women with different personality traits.