ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1551588
This article is part of the Research TopicEnvironmental Risk Factors for Depression: Unveiling Pathways to Resilience and Public Mental Health EquityView all 21 articles
Associations among mental well-being, marital quality, and maternal depressive symptoms in China: A cross-cohort study and mediated analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Third People 's Hospital of Liaoning, Tieling, China
- 2Department of Ophthalmology, The Fourth People's Hospital of Shenyang, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
- 3Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 4Shenyang Mental Health Center, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
- 5Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China
- 6China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
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Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is an extremely common mood disorder that occurs at any time up to 1 year after delivery. PPD can have a negative impact on the mother and family. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of PPD and factors influencing PPD. Specifically, this study focused on the effects of marital quality and mental well-being on PPD and the mediating roles Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Maternity and Child Health Care Hospitals of Liaoning Province in northeast China. The PHQ-9 scale was used to screen for PPD with a score ≥10, indicating a positive result. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Health and Marriage Perception scales were used to evaluate the mental well-being and marital quality of parturients. Results: A total of 1048 participants were included in the study. The prevalence of PPD symptoms was 11.16%. Factors, such as education level (F = 2.63; p < 0.05), co-living status (F = 5.84; p < 0.01), agreement with fetal gender expectations (t = 19.39; p < 0.001), amount of physical activity (F = 17.15; p < 0.001), and knowledge about PPD (t = 3.66; p < 0.001 and t = 5.099; p < 0.001), were all associated with the PPD score and the prevalence. Mental well-being and marital quality were intricately linked to PPD symptoms. Mental well-being influenced PPD via two mediating factors (marital interaction [p < 0.001] and marital conflict [p< 0.001]). Conclusions: PPD is a significant postpartum issue that is influenced by numerous factors. Early screening of parturients, accurate diagnosis of PPD, and timely intervention are crucial. Targeted interventions addressing risk factors may help to mitigate the incidence of PPD.
Keywords: postpartum depression, Mental well-being, Marital quality, Mental Health, China
Received: 26 Dec 2024; Accepted: 22 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jinhuan, Jie, Ying, Dongzhuo, Zhongli, Jiayue, Yan and Jintao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ren Jintao, The Third People 's Hospital of Liaoning, Tieling, China
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