ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Perinatal Psychiatry
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1607470
The Interplay of Prenatal Stress and Prenatal Depression in Chinese Couples: Based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
- 2Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
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Objective Pregnant women exhibit heightened stress susceptibility and elevated depression risk during gestation, factors associated with adverse outcomes including postpartum depression. Current research predominantly examines maternal experiences while neglecting spousal influences. Methods The study surveyed 282 Chinese married couples using validated scales to assess prenatal stress and depression. And analysed dyadic data from expectant parents using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) to determine the pattern of action of prenatal stress on prenatal depression between couples by calculating the magnitude of the ratio k between the partner effect and the actor effect.The analysis revealed k 1 = 0.064, 95% CI: (-0.113, 0.260) and k 2 = 0.064, 95% CI: (-0.118, 0.249). The confidence intervals for both k 1 and k 2 included zero, indicating an actor-only pattern in the APIM. Specifically, prenatal stress positively predicted one's own prenatal depression but did not significantly influence the partner's depression.It is crucial to encourage couples to actively manage their stress levels during the prenatal period. This can help to reduce the negative psychological effects of prenatal stress, which may lead to improved pregnancy outcomes and postnatal health.
Keywords: Actor-partner interdependence model (APIM), patterns, prenatal stress, prenatal depression, Couples' mental
Received: 09 Apr 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Dong, Zhou, Xie, Liao, Lin and Wu. 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:
Xiaoxu Xie, Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350004, Fujian Province, China
Qiuping Liao, Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, Fujian Province, China
Shaowei Lin, Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350004, Fujian Province, China
Siying Wu, Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350004, Fujian Province, China
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