Social determinants of perinatal mental health and well-being: a social network analysis

Background The transition to motherhood is a time of marked social changes. It is also a time of mental health vulnerability. This study examined the role that changes in women’s social environment during the peripartum period have on mental health and well-being. Methods Adopting a matched case-control design, we used social network analyses to capture changes in the social environment of women during (N = 378) and outside (N = 378) the peripartum and measured individual differences in social sensitivity, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and mental well-being. Changes in social environments and their association with individuals’ mental health and well-being were tracked three times across a six-month period. Results Compared to controls, peripartum women reported reduced social sensitivity, and greater emotional closeness, network density and family:friends ratio. Peripartum women also showed fewer mental health symptoms and greater well-being. Emotionally closer and closely-knit social environments were associated with better mental health and greater well-being for women during the peripartum compared to controls. Conclusions The observed mental health and well-being benefits of social changes during the peripartum add to growing evidence of the peripartum as a time of heightened malleability characterised not only by vulnerability but also opportunity.