{"doi":"10.1111/jocn.16351","title":"Postpartum depression and social support: A longitudinal study of the first six months as parents","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Aims and objectives</jats:title><jats:p>The study aimed to (1) investigate the changes in maternal and paternal depression, along with social support, across the 6‐month postpartum period; (2) explore the relationships between maternal and paternal depression and social support during the 6‐month postpartum period; and (3) compare the differences in postpartum depression and social support between mothers and fathers at 2–3 days, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postpartum.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>An increasing body of evidence now shows that postpartum depression affects both mothers and fathers. The notable increase in postpartum depression in China is particularly concerning.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design</jats:title><jats:p>A longitudinal study was conducted, guided by the STROBE checklist.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>122 pairs of parents were recruited from September 2020 to October 2021 at a teaching hospital in Guangzhou, China. Data were collected from each parent at 2–3 days, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postpartum, using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Social Support Rating Scale. We also acquired socio‐demographic and obstetric data at 2–3 days postpartum.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Maternal depression was lowest at 2–3 days postpartum compared with that measured at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postpartum. Maternal and paternal social support was highest at 2–3 days postpartum compared with that measured at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postpartum. Maternal depression was significantly correlated with paternal depression while maternal social support was significantly correlated with paternal social support at different time points.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>Postpartum depression in mothers and social support in both mothers and fathers, showed significant changes during the 6‐month postpartum period.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Relevance to clinical practice</jats:title><jats:p>Healthcare providers should pay attention to the mental health of both parents, view them as a team and provide both family‐based and women‐cantered interventions.</jats:p></jats:sec>","journal":"Journal of Clinical Nursing","year":2023,"id":620136,"datarank":0.4335557636844247,"base_score":2.8903717578961645,"endowment":2.8903717578961645,"self_citation_contribution":0.4335557636844247,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.4335557636844247,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":17,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1600725,"name":"Lingling Gao","orcid":"0000-0002-0159-4344","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1600726,"name":"Hanbing Li","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":947179,"name":"Qian Zhao","orcid":"0000-0003-0304-8854","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":707257,"name":"Jie Zheng","orcid":"0000-0002-9640-1604","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Postpartum depression and social support: A longitudinal study of the first six months as parents","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Aims and objectives</jats:title><jats:p>The study aimed to (1) investigate the changes in maternal and paternal depression, along with social support, across the 6‐month postpartum period; (2) explore the relationships between maternal and paternal depression and social support during the 6‐month postpartum period; and (3) compare the differences in postpartum depression and social support between mothers and fathers at 2–3 days, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postpartum.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>An increasing body of evidence now shows that postpartum depression affects both mothers and fathers. The notable increase in postpartum depression in China is particularly concerning.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design</jats:title><jats:p>A longitudinal study was conducted, guided by the STROBE checklist.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>122 pairs of parents were recruited from September 2020 to October 2021 at a teaching hospital in Guangzhou, China. Data were collected from each parent at 2–3 days, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postpartum, using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Social Support Rating Scale. We also acquired socio‐demographic and obstetric data at 2–3 days postpartum.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Maternal depression was lowest at 2–3 days postpartum compared with that measured at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postpartum. Maternal and paternal social support was highest at 2–3 days postpartum compared with that measured at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postpartum. Maternal depression was significantly correlated with paternal depression while maternal social support was significantly correlated with paternal social support at different time points.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>Postpartum depression in mothers and social support in both mothers and fathers, showed significant changes during the 6‐month postpartum period.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Relevance to clinical practice</jats:title><jats:p>Healthcare providers should pay attention to the mental health of both parents, view them as a team and provide both family‐based and women‐cantered interventions.</jats:p></jats:sec>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":2.833213344056216,"endowment":2.833213344056216,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"35538627","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4280518821","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","grant_id":"72174216","title":null}],"total_grants":1,"fwci":2.1323,"citation_percentile":0.86387853,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2023,"count":5},{"year":2024,"count":2},{"year":2025,"count":4},{"year":2026,"count":5}],"oa_status":"closed","license":"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jocn.16351","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/jocn.16351","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16351","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35538627","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":["Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum","Menstrual Health and Disorders","Mental Health Treatment and Access","Male","Pregnancy","Female","Humans","Depression, Postpartum","Longitudinal Studies","Parents","Postpartum Period","Mothers","Fathers","Social Support","Depression"],"mesh_terms":["Depression","Fathers","Female","Humans","Longitudinal Studies","Male","Mothers","Parents","Pregnancy","Social Support","Depression, Postpartum","Postpartum Period"],"keywords":["Postpartum depression","Social support","Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale","Depression (economics)","Postpartum period","Medicine","Checklist","Longitudinal study","Obstetrics","Psychology","Pregnancy","Maternal","Paternal"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Good health and well-being"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-03T10:06:46.331571Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}