Table 2.

Prospective cohort studies of the impact of perinatal body image on risk of depression

		Body image			Depression
			Timing of assessment			Timing of assessment
Author, year	Study population	Instrument	Prenatal	Postpartum	Instrument	Prenatal	Postpartum	Covariates	Results
Rauff and Downs 2011	151 women (92 % Caucasian): PA, USA	BASS: higher scores indicate greater satisfaction	First trimester Second trimester		CES-D: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms	Second trimester Third trimester		Pre-pregnancy BMI. education, race/ethnicity	First trimester BI and Second trimester D: β=−0.22* Second trimester BI and Third trimester D: β=−0.33*
Duncombe et al. 2008	158 women; Australia	BAQ subscales: Feeling fat Salience. Attractiveness. Strength	Pre-pregnancy (retrospective) 16–23 weeks 24–31 weeks		BDI short form: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms	16–23 weeks 32–38 weeks		None	Feeling fat: r=0.32–0.45* Salience: r=0.31–0.38* Attractiveness: r=−0.29 to −0.46* Strength: r=−0.26 to −0.34*
Anderson et al. 1994	30 women (97 % Caucasian); Canada	Attitudes scale: higher scores indicate more negative attitudes	Third trimester (2–94 days before birth)		BDI: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms		Mean: 13.2 (8–21.9 weeks)	None	r=0.43*
Clark et al. 2009	116 women; Australia	BAQ subscales: feeling fat Salience. Attractiveness, Strength	17–21 weeks 32–35 weeks	6 weeks 12 months	BDI short form: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms	32–35 weeks	6 weeks 12 months	Prior D	Feeling fat: r=0.03–0.15n.s Other subscales: n.s. (results not shown)
Downs et al. 2008	230 women (92 % Caucasian); PA, USA	BASS: higher scores indicate greater satisfaction	First trimester Second trimester Third trimester		CES-D: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms	Second trimester Third trimester	6 months	Exercise behavior, first trimester BMI, prior D	First trimester BI and second trimester D:β=−0.10n.s Second trimester BI and third trimester D: β=−0.19* Third trimester BI and postpartum D: β=−0.34* First + second + third trimester BI and postpartum D: β=−0.37*
Sweeney et al. 2014	46 women (52 % non-Hispanic Caucasian); PA, USA	BAQ: higher scores indicate greater dissatisfaction	Third trimester (>28 weeks)		EPDS: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms		2 months	Postpartum depression predictors, maladaptive perfectionism	β=0.49*

BI body image, BASS Body Areas Satisfaction Scale, BAQ Body Attitudes Questionnaire, D depressive symptoms, CES-D Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression, BDI Beck Depression Inventory, EPDS Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale,

BMI body mass index,

n.s. not statistically significant

^*Results statistically significant at P< .05