Depressive symptoms postpartum among parents are associated with marital separation: a
Swedish cohort study
Sammanfattning
Aims: To study whether there is an association between dyadic consensus, depressive
symptoms, and parental stress during early parenthood and marital separation 6–8 years after
childbirth, among couples in Sweden. Methods: At baseline, 393 couples were included. The couples
answered three questionnaires, including: Dyadic consensus at 1 week post-partum, depressive
symptoms at 3 months post-partum and parental stress at 18 months post-partum. The parents’
addresses were followed up after 6–8 years, to study the marital separation rate. Results: We found,
6-8 years after childbirth, that 20% of study couples were separated. Separation was associated with
less dyadic consensus (mothers p < 0.001; fathers p < 0.001), depressive symptoms (mothers p =
0.022; fathers p = 0.041) and parental stress (mothers p = 0.002; fathers p = 0.040). The hazard ratio
(HR) for marital separation was related to dyadic consensus for fathers (HR 0.51; 95% CI 0.28-0.92),
depressive symptoms for mothers (HR 1.69; 95% CI 1.01-2.84) and fathers (HR 1.92; 95% CI 1.12-
3.28), and the mother’s parental stress (HR 2.16; 95% CI 1.14-4.07). Conclusions: Understanding how
dyadic consensus, depressive symptoms and parental stress are associated with marital separation
is important for health professionals. It could be useful in developing interventions to provide parents
with adequate support during pregnancy and early parenthood. This knowledge is also important for
the public. Parents should get support in pregnancy and while bringing up children, which may help
prevent marital separation and optimize conditions for the children.