Perinatal Sleep and Postpartum Depression
Authors: Kita, Mayers, A. and McDougall, S.
Conference: Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies
Dates: 2 June 2014-5 June 2015
Journal: Sleep
Volume: 37
Abstract:Summary: During the perinatal period, women undergo significant sleep changes, and during the first postpartum week, the poorest sleep occurs, researchers concluded. Further, the risk of developing post-partum depression (PPD) is significantly increased by factors such as difficulty falling asleep, increased total sleep time (TST), and symptoms of depression during late pregnancy.
Methods: Researchers included 29 healthy perinatal women, who completed a week of sleep diaries, the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue Scale, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during their third trimester of pregnancy, and then again at 1 and 12 weeks postpartum. Participants also underwent one night of home polysomnographic (PSG) monitoring during the third trimester of pregnancy.
Results: Researchers performed a series of repeated-measures ANOVAs, which showed that the first postpartum week was characterized by significantly less TST, more awakenings, more daytime napping, and increased fatigue (ps<0.05).Upon multiple linear regression, researchers found that increased sleep onset latency and increased total amount of sleep during late pregnancy were significant predictors of week 1 EPDS scores, after accounting for depressive symptoms during pregnancy (R2=0.554, F[2,23]=11.01, P<0.001).
Depressive symptoms during pregancy was the strongest predictor of week 12 EPDS scores (R2=0.641, F[1,18]=28.59; P<0.001).
No significant correlations were seen between pregnancy PSG sleep stage variables and PPD scores.
http://www.journalsleep.org/Resources/Documents/2014AbstractSupplement.pdf
Source: Manual
Preferred by: Lauren Kita