The effect of social support perception in postpartum depression; mediating role of marital adjustment

This study was conducted to examine the perception of social support in postpartum depression by using marital adjustment. The study was devised as cross-sectional and correlational. 368 women who met the sampling criteria participated in the study. Data were collected through face-to-face questionnaire by using personal information form, Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, the Multidimensional Social Support Perception Scale, the Marriage Adjustment Scale. In the data analysis, Pearson correlation test, independent T-test and ANOVA-analysis test were used. Bonferroni and Scheffe tests were applied to compare the differences between the groups of categorical variables. Consequently, it was found that the frequency of PPD was 18.20% in 67 individuals at risk of postpartum depression, although the participants had low levels of postpartum depression. Participants perceived levels of social support and marital adjustment were rated as high. It was found that there was a negative association between postpartum depression and age of the mother and her spouse, a significant negative association between social support and age and number of children, and a negative significant association between marital adjustment and number of children and age of the baby. Educational attainment, employment status, educational attainment of spouse, income level, planned pregnancy and being a primiparous mother were found to increase the perception of social support. Women's educational attainment, planned pregnancy and having longer than 24 months after the last birth were found to increase marital adjustment. In the inter-scales, it was found that there were negative significant association between perceived social support and postpartum depression, negative significant association between marital adjustment and postpartum depression, positive association between social support and marital adjustment. In conclusion, it was found that marital adjustment took a strong partial mediating role between social support and postpartum depression