Perinatal Mental Health Problems in Rural China: The Role of Social Factors

Background: Perinatal mental health is important for the well-being of the mother and child, so the relatively high prevalence of perinatal mental health problems in developing settings poses a pressing concern. However, most studies in these settings focus on the demographic factors associated with mental health problems, with very few examing social factors. Hence, this study examines the prevalence of the depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms among pregnant women and new mothers in rural China, and the associations between these mental health problems and social factors, including decision-making power, family conflicts, and social support.Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from 1,027 women in their second trimester of pregnancy to 6 months postpartum in four low-income rural counties in Sichuan Province, China. Women were surveyed on symptoms of mental health problems using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and social risk factors. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine social risk factors associated with maternal mental health problems, with results reported as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).Results: Among all respondents, 13% showed symptoms of depression, 18% showed symptoms of anxiety, 9% showed symptoms of stress, and 23% showed symptoms of any mental health problem. Decision-making power was negatively associated with showing symptoms of depression (OR = 0.71, CI: 0.60–0.83, p < 0.001) and stress (OR = 0.76, CI: 0.63–0.90, p = 0.002). Family conflict was positively associated with depression (OR = 1.53, CI: 1.30–1.81, p < 0.001), anxiety (OR = 1.34, CI: 1.15–1.56, p < 0.001), and stress (OR = 1.68, CI: 1.41–2.00, p < 0.001). In addition, social support was negatively associated with depression (OR = 0.56, CI: 0.46–0.69, p < 0.001), anxiety (OR = 0.76, CI: 0.63–0.91, p = 0.002), and stress (OR = 0.66, CI: 0.53–0.84, p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses revealed that more social risk factors were associated with symptoms of anxiety and stress among new mothers compared to pregnant women.Conclusion: Perinatal mental health problems are relatively prevalent among rural women in China and are strongly associated with social risk factors. Policies and programs should therefore promote individual coping methods, as well as target family and community members to improve the social conditions contributing to mental health problems among rural women.

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Social factors associated with chronic non-communicable disease and comorbidity with mental health problems in India: a scoping review

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035590 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. e035590 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Saju Madavanakadu Devassy ◽

Anuja Maria Benny ◽

Lorane Scaria ◽

Anjana Nannatt ◽

Meredith Fendt-Newlin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Communicable Disease ◽

Health Problems ◽

Social Risk ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Social Risk Factors ◽

Factors Associated

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to examine the existing literature of the major social risk factors which are associated with diabetes, hypertension and the comorbid conditions of depression and anxiety in India.DesignScoping review.Data sourcesScopus, Embase, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, Web of Science and MEDLINE were searched for through September 2019.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesStudies reporting data on social risk factors for diabetes or hypertension and depression or anxiety in community-based samples of adults from India, published in English in the 10 years to 2019, were included. Studies that did not disaggregate pooled data from other countries were excluded.Data extraction and synthesisTwo independent reviewers extracted study aims; methods; sample size and description; demographic, social and behavioural risk factors and a summary of findings from each paper. Risk factors were synthesised into six emergent themes.ResultsTen studies were considered eligible and included in this review. Nine presented cross-sectional data and one was a qualitative case study. Six themes emerged, that is, demographic factors, economic aspects, social networks, life events, health barriers and health risk behaviours.ConclusionsLiterature relating to the major social risk factors associated with diabetes, hypertension and comorbid depression and anxiety in India is sparse. More research is required to better understand the interactions of social context and social risk factors with non-communicable diseases and comorbid mental health problems so as to better inform management of these in the Indian subcontinent.

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Hard routes of mental health in Portugal: what can we offer to an adolescent with serious mental illness and multiple social risk factors?

BMJ Case Reports ◽

10.1136/bcr-2018-229120 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. e229120

Author(s):

Rita Goncalves ◽

Mafalda Marques ◽

Teresa Cartaxo ◽

Vera Santos

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Best Practice ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Psychiatric Patients ◽

Mental Healthcare ◽

Developed Countries ◽

First Episode ◽

Social Risk ◽

Social Risk Factors

Worldwide, millions of children and adolescents are suffering due to a lack of efficient mental healthcare. Although some progress has been made to address the mental health problems in this age group, currently, even developed countries fail in providing psychiatric patients with the best practice care. We present a case of a Portuguese adolescent with a first episode of psychosis in whom multiple social and environmental risk factors were identified as triggers to his clinical presentation, as well as fundamental determinants of prognosis in the short and long term. In this case, we demonstrate how social determinants, including poverty, family dysfunction and difficulties in accessing appropriate mental healthcare, strongly influence the development, maintenance and prognosis in early psychosis during adolescence. Furthermore, we consider the implications of an absence of community-based mental healthcare and rehabilitation services and reasons for why this may complicate the management and limit opportunities to this patient population.

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Mental Health Issues among Caregivers of Young Children in Rural China: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Links to Child Developmental Outcomes

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18010197 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 197

Author(s):

Siqi Zhang ◽

Lei Wang ◽

Yue Xian ◽

Yu Bai

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Rural China ◽

Developmental Outcomes ◽

Household Wealth ◽

Health Problems ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Caregiver Mental Health

Previous research has found that there are high rates of mental health problems among caregivers in rural China and that caregiver mental health may be a significant predictor of developmental delays among infants and toddlers in these rural areas. In this paper, we use data from a survey of 986 caregiver-child pairs in rural China to examine the risk factors of caregiver mental health and measure the association between caregiver mental health and child development outcomes. To conduct the empirical analysis, we assess caregiver mental health using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) questionnaire and measure child developmental outcomes using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Developmental Third Edition (Bayley-III). The results show that 32% of caregivers have depressive symptoms, 42% have anxiety symptoms, and 30% have symptoms of stress. The data also demonstrate that caregiver identity and age as well as different measures of socioeconomic status (SES) (characterized by caregiver education, father’s education, and household wealth) are all significantly linked to symptoms of caregiver mental health problems. The analysis shows that caregiver depression, anxiety, and/or stress are significantly associated with lower early childhood development (ECD) outcomes in all areas measured (cognition, language, social-emotion, and motor skills). The heterogeneous analysis demonstrates that there are differences in the effects of caregiver mental health problems on ECD among households are from families that are endowed with different levels of SES. On the basis of the findings the study concludes that policymakers should pay more attention to caregiver mental health problems in order to improve child developmental outcomes in rural China. The study cannot, however, draw casual conclusions and cannot rule out the possibility of recall bias when measuring caregiver mental health, which may limit the external validity of the findings.

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The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Paternal Depression from the Antenatal to the Postpartum Period and the Relationships between Antenatal and Postpartum Depression among Fathers in Hong Kong

Depression Research and Treatment ◽

10.1155/2014/127632 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Y. W. Koh ◽

C. Y. Chui ◽

C. S. K. Tang ◽

A. M. Lee

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Postpartum Depression ◽

Perinatal Depression ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Perinatal Mental Health ◽

Paternal Depression ◽

Time Points ◽

Expectant Fathers

Introduction. Despite the fact that maternal perinatal mental health problems have been extensively studied and addressed to be a significant health problem, the literature on paternal perinatal mental health problems is relatively scarce. The present study aims at determining the prevalence of paternal perinatal depression and identifying the risk factors and the relationship between antenatal and postpartum depression.Methodology. 622 expectant fathers were recruited from regional maternal clinics. The expectant fathers were assessed using standardized and validated psychological instruments on 3 time points including early pregnancy, late pregnancy, and six weeks postpartum.Results. Results showed that a significant proportion of expectant fathers manifested depressive symptoms during the perinatal period. Paternal antenatal depression could significantly predict higher level of paternal postpartum depression. Psychosocial risk factors were consistently associated with paternal depression in different time points.Conclusions. The present study points to the need for greater research and clinical attention to paternal depression given that it is a highly prevalent problem and could be detrimental to their spouse and children development. The present findings contribute to theoretical basis of the prevalence and risk factors of paternal perinatal depression and have implications of the design of effective identification, prevention, and interventions of these clinical problems.

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Association between Criminological Risk Factors and Mental Health Problems among Urban Jail Inmates

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e571212013-429 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Ernie Gonzalez ◽

Jorge G. Varela ◽

Erika J. Canales ◽

Alexandra Tellez ◽

Amy B. Percosky

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Jail Inmates

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Association of Child Mental Health with Child and Family Characteristics in Rural China: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18105107 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (10) ◽

pp. 5107

Author(s):

Huan Wang ◽

Cody Abbey ◽

Xinshu She ◽

Scott Rozelle ◽

Xiaochen Ma

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Child Mental Health ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Rural China ◽

Health Problems ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Family Characteristics ◽

Contributing Factors ◽

Cross Sectional

Assessing the mental health problems encountered by school children and understanding the contributing factors are crucial to inform strategies aimed at improving mental health in low-resource contexts. However, few studies have investigated the mental health problems among disadvantaged children in poorer countries. This study examines the prevalence of mental health problems in rural China and their association with child and family characteristics. The study uses survey data from 9696 children in 120 rural primary schools and measures child mental health using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Overall, 17.9% of the sample children were found to be in the abnormal range of the SDQ total difficulties scores. The mean score was 12.93 (SD = 4.94). Abnormal scores were associated with child and family characteristics, including older child age (Odds Ratio, OR = 0.704, 95% CI: 0.611, 0.810; p < 0.001), gender (OR = 1.235, 95% CI: 1.112, 1.371; p < 0.001), and academic performance (OR = 0.421, 95% CI: 0.369, 0.480; p < 0.001). Reading time was found to be protective for mental health. Risk factors include excessive screen time (OR = 1.685, 95% CI: 1.409, 2.016; p < 0.001) and being bullied (OR = 3.695, 95% CI: 3.301, 4.136; p < 0.001). Our study suggests that future mental health illness prevention programs in rural China should consider targeting different aspects of children’s social contexts.

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