The course and interrelationship of maternal and paternal perinatal depression.

The aims of the study were to describe course of depression in both mothers and fathers from the third trimester of pregnancy through 6 months postpartum and to examine the relationship between maternal and paternal depression. Hypotheses were as follows: (a) Depressive symptoms would be correlated between parents and (b) earlier depressive symptoms in one parent would predict later increases in depression in the other. Eighty cohabitating primiparous couples were recruited from prenatal OBGYN visits and community agencies and enrolled during pregnancy, between 28-week gestation and delivery. Participants completed measures of depression on four occasions: baseline and 1, 3, and 6 months postpartum. Ninety-eight percent of the enrolled couples (78; 156 individuals) completed the study. For both mothers and fathers, symptom severity ratings and classification as a probable case were stable across time, with prenatal depression persisting through 6 months in 75 % of mothers and 86 % of fathers. Prenatal depression in fathers predicted worsening depressive symptom severity in mothers across the first six postpartum months but not vice versa. In both expecting/new mothers and fathers, depression demonstrates a stable pattern of occurrence and symptom severity between 28-month gestation and 6 months postpartum. Although prenatal maternal depression is not predictive of symptom change in fathers, mothers with prenatally depressed partners showed significant worsening in overall symptom severity during the first six postpartum months.

Racial Differences in Obesity-Related Risk Factors Between 2-Year-Old Children Born of Overweight Mothers.

OBJECTIVE: Investigate racial differences in a range of obesity-related socio-behavioral risk factors in children born of obese mothers. METHODS: 142 Black and 151 White 2-year-old children and their parents were surveyed on their physical activity environment, food environment, parental role modeling, eating behaviors, feeding practices, child physical activity, dietary intake, and eating behaviors; body mass index (BMI) for parents and children (BMI z-score) were calculated. RESULTS: In bivariate analyses, Black families reported significantly more risk factors for early-childhood obesity than White families, including greater availability of soda, more television viewing, and poorer dietary intake. In multivariate analyses adjusting for maternal and socioeconomic factors, the differences between Black and White families on factors including television watching and dietary intake remained significant. CONCLUSION: These data show a greater number of risk factors for obesity among Black children and their families compared with White children even after adjustment for maternal BMI and socioeconomic status.

Prenatal and postpartum depression in fathers and its association with maternal depression: a meta-analysis.

CONTEXT: It is well established that maternal prenatal and postpartum depression is prevalent and has negative personal, family, and child developmental outcomes. Paternal depression during this period may have similar characteristics, but data are based on an emerging and currently inconsistent literature. OBJECTIVE: To describe point estimates and variability in rates of paternal prenatal and postpartum depression over time and its association with maternal depression. DATA SOURCES: Studies that documented depression in fathers between the first trimester and the first postpartum year were identified through MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Google Scholar, dissertation abstracts, and reference lists for the period between January 1980 and October 2009. STUDY SELECTION: Studies that reported identified cases within the selected time frame were included, yielding a total of 43 studies involving 28 004 participants after duplicate reports and data were excluded. DATA EXTRACTION: Information on rates of paternal and maternal depression, as well as reported paternal-maternal depressive correlations, was extracted independently by 2 raters. Effect sizes were calculated using logits, which were back-transformed and reported as proportions. Random-effects models of event rates were used because of significant heterogeneity. Moderator analyses included timing, measurement method, and study location. Study quality ratings were calculated and used for sensitivity analysis. Publication bias was evaluated with funnel plots and the Egger method. DATA SYNTHESIS: Substantial heterogeneity was observed among rates of paternal depression, with a meta-estimate of 10.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.5%-12.7%). Higher rates of depression were reported during the 3- to 6-month postpartum period (25.6%; 95% CI, 17.3%-36.1%). The correlation between paternal and maternal depression was positive and moderate in size (r = 0.308; 95% CI, 0.228-0.384). No evidence of significant publication bias was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal and postpartum depression was evident in about 10% of men in the reviewed studies and was relatively higher in the 3- to 6-month postpartum period. Paternal depression also showed a moderate positive correlation with maternal depression.

The Revised Mosher Sex-Guilt Scale: its psychometric properties and a proposed ten-item version.

Mosher introduced his Forced-Choice Guilt Inventory some 40 years ago and, over the following decades, his subscale measuring sex guilt has been the most widely used measure of this construct. Mosher revised his instrument in 1998, but he did not provide data regarding the reliability of the scale, its construct validity, or its overlap with the original scale. In this study, a sample of 272 undergraduate college students (95 men and 177 women) were administered both the original Mosher Forced-Choice Guilt Inventory and the Revised Mosher Sex-Guilt Scale, a Non-Acceptance of Sexuality Scale, and several items regarding their sexual experiences. Results of this study provide support for the psychometric soundness of the 50-item Revised Mosher Sex-Guilt Scale. Results also revealed that the 50-item scale had a high degree of overlap with the original forced-choice version, and that it had statistically significant correlations in the predicted directions with the sexual experiences items. This study also proposes a brief 10-item version of Mosher's 50-item scale, which has similar psychometric characteristics and could serve as an efficient substitute for the longer scale.