Psychological Distress in the Postpartum Period: The Significance of Social Support

This panel study examines changes in the psychological distress of 280 new mothers over a one-year period. Regression analyses show that when social support is indexed as the extent of the mother's social network, this variable has no impact on changes in psychological distress. However, the cognitive experience of social support and the degree of marital intimacy make significant independent contributions to changes in psychological distress. The results also provide no confirmation for the hypothesis that the elevated levels of psychological distress reported in recent community studies of young mothers can be accounted for by the inclusion of cases of postpartum depression.