Table 1.
Sample characteristics.
| Full sample (N = 2965) | Not depressed during postpartum year (N = 2592) | Depressed during postpartum year (N = 373) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maternal characteristics | |||
| Age, mean in years** | 25.03 (6.05) | 25.11 (6.08) | 24.41 (5.80) |
| Race/ethnicity | |||
| Non-hispanic white (%) | 0.208 | 0.209 | 0.198 |
| Non-hispanic black (%) | 0.483 | 0.479 | 0.522 |
| Hispanic (%) | 0.270 | 0.274 | 0.247 |
| Other (%) | 0.038 | 0.039 | 0.032 |
| Foreign-born (%)*** | 0.148 | 0.155 | 0.097 |
| Education | |||
| <high school graduate (%) | 0.344 | 0.344 | 0.346 |
| High school graduate (%) | 0.306 | 0.304 | 0.314 |
| Any college (%) | 0.350 | 0.352 | 0.340 |
| Medicaid birth (%)** | 0.646 | 0.640 | 0.692 |
| Employed during 2 years before the birth (%) | 0.808 | 0.804 | 0.831 |
| Relationship status*** | |||
| Married (%) | 0.234 | 0.242 | 0.180 |
| Cohabiting (%) | 0.367 | 0.368 | 0.357 |
| Neither married nor cohabiting (%) | 0.399 | 0.390 | 0.464 |
| Number of children, mean | 1.15 (1.35) | 1.14 (1.35) | 1.22 (1.30) |
| Prenatal diagnosed mental illness (%)*** | 0.126 | 0.109 | 0.241 |
| Prenatal physical health condition (%) | 0.204 | 0.203 | 0.206 |
| Prenatal illicit drug use (%)** | 0.103 | 0.098 | 0.137 |
| Child characteristics | |||
| Severe infant health condition (%) | 0.018 | 0.018 | 0.019 |
| Male (%) | 0.519 | 0.519 | 0.520 |
| Multiple birth (%) | 0.019 | 0.018 | 0.021 |
| Child’s age when outcome was measured, mean in months | 35.69 (2.44) | 35.67 (2.44) | 35.79 (2.41) |
| Paternal characteristics | |||
| Father higher education category than mother (%) | 0.236 | 0.238 | 0.228 |
| Paternal depression (CES-D), mean score | 1.24 (1.18) | 1.24 (1.19) | 1.26 (1.13) |
| Paternal suboptimal physical health (%) | 0.410 | 0.405 | 0.440 |
| Father did not complete initial interview (%) | 0.179 | 0.179 | 0.185 |
| Prenatal housing situation | |||
| Housing problems (%) | 0.020 | 0.019 | 0.027 |
| Lived with adult (not including child’s father) (%) | 0.333 | 0.332 | 0.343 |
| Maternal grandparents’ mental Illness | |||
| Grandmother had history of depressive symptoms (%)*** | 0.256 | 0.227 | 0.461 |
| Grandfather had history of depressive symptoms (%)*** | 0.119 | 0.106 | 0.206 |
| Grandmother’s depressive symptoms missing (%)** | 0.075 | 0.070 | 0.105 |
| Grandfather’s depressive symptoms missing (%)*** | 0.284 | 0.274 | 0.349 |
Notes:
p < 0.01;
p < 0.05;
p < 0.10 for significant differences between mothers who experienced depression during the postpartum year and those who did not, based on two-tailed t tests for comparison of means for binary variables or χ2 tests for categorical variables. All figures are proportions unless indicated otherwise. Standard deviations are in parentheses. Other than child’s age (which is measured concurrently with the outcomes), all variables classified above as maternal, child, paternal, and prenatal housing characteristics are measured at or before the birth of the focal child. For fathers who did not complete baseline interviews, paternal suboptimal physical health was set equal to 1 and CES-D was set equal to the mean score for the cases with father data. Mothers’ reports of fathers’ education were used when fathers’ reports were not available.