Childbearing depressive symptomatology in high-risk pregnancies: The roles of working models and social support

Guided by both attachment and social support theories, the authors conducted a longitudinal investigation exploring the concomitant effects of perceptions of spouse support (anticipated and received spouse support) and internal working models of attachment (positive-self and positive-other), on childbearing depressive symptomatology. Distinct main and interaction effects for attachment dimensions and perceived support variables were hypothesized for high- and low-risk pregnancies. Participants in the final sample were 200 pregnant women who completed the self-report between the 25th and the 29th weeks of pregnancy, and 8 weeks after childbirth. Controlling for initial levels of depressive symptoms and health conditions, results demonstrated the protective role of high levels of received support and of positive-other models on childbirth depressive symptoms. Moreover, received support and models of positive-other were found to interact with health conditions, producing distinct moderation effects: Received support was found to be a significantly stronger protective factor for childbearing depression among women with low-risk pregnancies; positive-other models were found to be a significantly stronger protective factor among women with high-risk pregnancies. The implications of these findings for the understanding of intrapersonal and interpersonal factors in successful coping with a health risk situation are discussed.