Table 3.

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

		Depression			Body image
			Timing of assessment			Timing of assessment
Author, year	Study population	Instrument	Prenatal	Postpartum	Instrument	Prenatal	Postpartum	Covariates	Results
Skouteris et al. 2005	128 women; Australia	BDI short form: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms	16–23 weeks		BAQ subscales: Feeling fat Salience. Attractiveness. strength	32–39 weeks		Pre-pregnancy BMI, social comparison tendency sociocultural pressure, self-consciousness, perception of teasing	Feeling fat:β=0.14n.s Salience: β=0.07n.s Attractiveness: β=0.16n.s Strength: β=−0.21*
Downs et al. 2008	230 women (85 % Caucasian); PA, USA	CES-D: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms	First trimester Second trimester		BASS: higher scores indicate greater satisfaction	Second trimester Third trimester		None	First trimester D and second trimester BI: r=−0.40* First trimester D and third trimester BI: r=−0.38* Second trimester D and third trimester BI: r=−0.38*
Rallis et al. 2007	79 women; Australia	BDI short form: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms		6 months	BAQ subscales: Feeling fat Salience. Attractiveness. Strength		12 months	BMI change, psychological variables	Feeling fat:β=0.15n.s Salience: β=−0.01n.s Attractiveness: β=−0.22n.s Strength: β=−0.34*
Clark et al. 2009	116 women; Australia	BDI short form: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms	32–35 weeks		BAQ subscales: Feeling fat Salience. Attractiveness. strength		6 weeks 12 months	Concurrent BI	6 weeks: feeling fat: r=0.35* 6 weeks: attractiveness r=−0.21* 6 weeks: salience r=0.31* 6 weeks: strength r=−0.30* 6 months: feeling fat r=0.26* 12 months: feeling fat r=0.20* No other prospective associations (results not shown)
Gjerdingen et al. 2009	506 women (67 % non-Hispanic White); MN, USA	PHQ-9: higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms		0–1 month 9 months	Eight-item Body Shape Questionnaire		9 months	Not shown	0–1 month: n.s. (results not shown) 9 months: n.s. (results not shown)

BI body image, BAQ body attitudes questionnaire, BASS Body Areas Satisfaction Scale, D depressive symptoms, BDI Beck Depression Inventory, CES-D Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression, EPDS Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, PHQ-9 nine-item patient health questionnaire

BMI body mass index

n.s. not statistically significant

^*Results statistically significant at P<.05