Tembo Chimwemwe, Portsmouth Linda, Burns Sharyn
Saint John of God Hospitaller Services Malawi, Mzuzu, Malawi.
School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023 Jun 23;3(6):e0002025. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002025. eCollection 2023.
In rural Malawi, adolescent mothers represent 31% of pregnancies. While some adolescent mothers experience motherhood as an exciting, positive, and affirming experience, for others, it may increase their risk of postnatal depression (PND). Social norms and culture contribute to adolescent mothers' experiences and may influence their mental health. However, there is limited research around the prevalence of PND and its cultural influences among adolescent mothers. A cross-sectional survey was administered from 7th September 2021 to 31st March 2022. Three hundred and ninety-five adolescent postnatal mothers aged ≤19 were conveniently recruited at Mitundu hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was used to assess depression. A cutoff point of ≥ 10 was employed to categorize probable PND. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of depression. The mean age of participants was 17 (SD 1.157). and 43.6% (n = 172) presented with PND (EPDS scores ≥10). When all factors were considered in a binary logistic model, adolescents who had ever experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) were 13.6 times more likely to report PND after controlling for age and other predictors compared to those without an experience of IPV (aOR 13.6, p = 0.01, 95% CI 2.10-88.9). Participants whose families did not decide for them (regarding their care) were 2.3 times more likely to present with PND than those whose families decided for them (aOR 2.3 p = 0.03, 95% CI 1.04-5.2). Adolescent mothers who had interacted with their health worker were less likely to report PND than those who had no interaction with the health worker (aOR 0.4 P0.02, CI 0.17-0.67). Social and cultural factors can impact mental health of adolescent mothers. It is recommended that targeted and integrated interventions are developed, implemented. and evaluated. There is a need to improve policy and practice to better support adolescent mothers postnatally.
在马拉维农村地区，青少年母亲占怀孕妇女的31%。虽然一些青少年母亲将为人母视为令人兴奋、积极且值得肯定的经历，但对另一些人来说，这可能会增加她们患产后抑郁症（PND）的风险。社会规范和文化影响着青少年母亲的经历，可能会对她们的心理健康产生作用。然而，关于青少年母亲中产后抑郁症的患病率及其文化影响的研究有限。于2021年9月7日至2022年3月31日进行了一项横断面调查。在马拉维利隆圭的米通杜医院便利抽样招募了395名年龄≤19岁的青少年产后母亲。采用爱丁堡产后抑郁量表评估抑郁情况。采用≥10分的临界值来分类可能的产后抑郁症。使用二元逻辑回归来确定抑郁症的预测因素。参与者的平均年龄为17岁（标准差1.157），43.6%（n = 172）患有产后抑郁症（爱丁堡产后抑郁量表得分≥10）。在二元逻辑模型中考虑所有因素时，与没有亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）经历的青少年相比，有过亲密伴侣暴力经历的青少年在控制年龄和其他预测因素后报告产后抑郁症的可能性高13.6倍（调整后比值比13.
