Dataset Information

The relationship between social support and mental health problems during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pregnancy is a time of profound physical and emotional change as well as an increased risk of mental illness. While strengthening social support is a common recommendation to reduce such mental health risk, no systematic review or meta-analysis has yet examined the relationship between social support and mental problems during pregnancy.

Methods

The PRISMA checklist was used as a guide to systematically review relevant peer-reviewed literature reporting primary data analyses. PubMed, Psych Info, MIDIRS, SCOPUS, and CINAHL database searches were conducted to retrieve research articles published between the years 2000 to 2019. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale tool was used for quality appraisal and the meta-analysis was conducted using STATA. The Q and the I² statistics were used to evaluate heterogeneity. A random-effects model was used to pool estimates. Publication bias was assessed using a funnel plot and Egger's regression test and adjusted using trim and Fill analysis.

Result

From the identified 3760 articles, 67 articles with 64,449 pregnant women were part of the current systematic review and meta-analysis. From the total 67 articles, 22 and 45 articles included in the narrative analysis and meta-analysis, respectively. From the total articles included in the narrative analysis, 20 articles reported a significant relationship between low social support and the risk of developing mental health problems (i.e. depression, anxiety, and self-harm) during pregnancy. After adjusting for publication bias, based on the results of the random-effect model, the pooled odds ratio (POR) of low social support was AOR: 1.18 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.41) for studies examining the relationship between low social support and antenatal depression and AOR: 1.97 (95% CI: 1.34, 2.92) for studies examining the relationship between low social support and antenatal anxiety.

Conclusion

Low social support shows significant associations with the risk of depression, anxiety, and self-harm during pregnancy. Policy-makers and those working on maternity care should consider the development of targeted social support programs with a view to helping reduce mental health problems amongst pregnant women.

SUBMITTER: Bedaso A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8320195 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundForced migration can lead to loss of social support and increased vulnerability to psychological distress of displaced individuals. The aims were to ascertain the associations of sociodemographic characteristics and social support received by resettled adult humanitarian migrants in Australia; determine the relationship between social support and mental health at different intervals following humanitarian migration; and examine the modification effects of gender, age and migration pathway on that relationship.MethodsA secondary analysis was conducted of data generated in Waves One (three to six months after resettlement), Three (three years after resettlement) and Five (five years after resettlement) of the Building a New Life in Australia prospective cohort study. The association between sociodemographic characteristics and mental health were examined at each timepoint using a multivariate regression model. Exploratory factor analysis was used to develop a two-factor social support scale (emotional/instrumental and informational support) from a larger set of items collected in the BNLA. Psychological distress was measured by the Kessler-6 scale. Path analysis was used to analyse the relationships between social support and psychological distress among the three time points considering socio-demographic characteristics simultaneously.ResultsA total of 2264 participants were included in the analyses. Age, gender, birth region, migration pathway, education level and English proficiency were significantly associated with both social support types. Main source of income was only significantly associated with informational support. Remoteness area was only significantly associated with emotional/instrumental support. As emotional/instrumental support increased by one standard deviation (SD) at Wave One, psychological distress at Wave Three decreased by 0.34 score [95% CI (- 0.61; - 0.08)]. As informational support at Wave Three increased by one SD, psychological distress at Wave Five decreased by 0.35 score [95% CI (- 0.69; - 0.01)]. The relationships between social support and psychological distress varied between genders, age groups and migration pathways.ConclusionFindings demonstrate the importance of emotional/instrumental support and informational support for the medium and long-term mental health of humanitarian migrants. This study also highlights the important of extending current social support provisions and tailoring programs to enhance support received by humanitarian migrant subgroups years after resettlement to improve mental health.