Social support and personality traits as determinants of postpartum depression among postnatal patients in university college hospital, Ibadan

Abstract

Literature reveals the burden of postpartum depression (PPD) globally. There is however a lacuna of knowledge on the interactions of social support, personality traits and PPD among Nigerian post-natal women. This study was carried out to observe the extent to which social support and personality traits determine levels of PPD among postnatal women using the University College Hospital Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. A total of 214 postnatal women mean age of 32.3 ± 7.78 were purposively selected for this study. The women responded to the multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS), MINI international pool item personality (MINI-IPIP) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Results show that there was a high prevalence of PPD among the respondents as 54.5% reported mildmoderate levels of PPD, 18.0% reported moderatesevere levels of depression and 18.0% reported severe levels of PPD. Social support was observed to significantly predicted postpartum depression among the participants (β= -.16, t= -2.41, p < .05). Social support and neuroticism (F= 6.56, p < .05) and support and openness (F= 3.99, p < .05) were found to jointly significant determine PPD among the participants. Openness (β= -.14, t= -2.06, p < .05) and neuroticism (β= -.18, t= -2.69, p < .05) personality traits independently and significantly predicted PPD. Finally, the age of respondents significantly predicted PPD (β= .143, t= -2.08, p < .05). The study concludes that there is a high prevalence of PPD among postnatal women using UCH and that postpartum women who receive enough social support from family, friends, or significant others are less likely to experience depressive symptoms or develop PPD. Also, personality traits of openness and neuroticism and age maternal age independently predicted PPD. Adequate social support during pregnancy and at postnatal periods is recommended.