Race/ethnicity and perinatal depressed mood

This study examined the extent to which race/ethnicity is a risk factor for depressed mood in late pregnancy and the early postpartum period apart from its relationship with other demographic and infant outcome variables. Data obtained from 26,877 women with newborns in Iowa indicate that 15.7% endorsed a single depression item. Logistic regression results indicate that race/ethnicity was a significant predictor of depressed mood, controlling for age, marital status, income and educational level, and infant health outcome. Compared to White women, African-American women were significantly more likely to report depressed mood (OR=1.25, 95% CI=1.03-1.52). Hispanic women were significantly less likely to report being depressed (OR= 0.74, 95 % CI= 0.61-0.88). The role of social support in understanding these findings is explored.