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Reproductive health
Jul 28, 2021;18 (1): 162.

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

Asres Bedaso, Jon Adams, Wenbo Peng, David Sibbritt
Author Information
  1. Asres Bedaso: College of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Nursing, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia. asresbedaso@gmail.com. ORCID
  2. Jon Adams: Australian Centre for Public and Population Health Research, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
  3. Wenbo Peng: Australian Centre for Public and Population Health Research, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
  4. David Sibbritt: Australian Centre for Public and Population Health Research, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
PMID: 34321040 DOI: 10.1186/s12978-021-01209-5

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 I 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.

Keywords

Anxiety Depression Mental illness Meta-analysis Pregnancy Self-harm Social support Systematic review

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MeSH Term

Anxiety
Female
Humans
Maternal Health Services
Mental Health
Pregnancy
Pregnant Women
Social Support
Journal Article Meta-Analysis Review Systematic Review
Article has an altmetric score of 13

Word Cloud

Created with Highcharts 10.0.0supportsocialarticlesmentalreviewmeta-analysisrelationship1riskhealthproblemsusedlowsystematicpregnancyusinganalysisdepressionanxietyPregnancyillnessreduceconductedmodelbias67pregnantwomentotalincludednarrativesignificantself-harmAOR:95%CI:studiesexaminingantenatalBACKGROUND:timeprofoundphysicalemotionalchangewellincreasedstrengtheningcommonrecommendationyetexaminedMETHODS:PRISMAchecklistguidesystematicallyrelevantpeer-reviewedliteraturereportingprimarydataanalysesPubMedPsychInfoMIDIRSSCOPUSCINAHLdatabasesearchesretrieveresearchpublishedyears20002019Newcastle-OttawaScaletoolqualityappraisalSTATAQstatisticsevaluateheterogeneityrandom-effectspoolestimatesPublicationassessedfunnelplotEgger'sregressiontestadjustedtrimFillRESULT:identified376064449partcurrent2245respectively20reporteddevelopingieadjustingpublicationbasedresultsrandom-effectpooledoddsratioPOR1801419734292CONCLUSION:LowshowsassociationsPolicy-makersworkingmaternitycareconsiderdevelopmenttargetedprogramsviewhelpingamongstpregnancy:AnxietyDepressionMentalMeta-analysisSelf-harmSocialSystematic

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