An interesting new study on PPD was published in the July 2006 edition of Maternal and Child Health Journal: "The Role of Social Networks and Support in Postpartum Women's Depression: A Multiethnic Urban Sample."

Researchers explored the relationship of social support and social networks to symptoms of depression in a multi-ethnic sample of new moms.

The team randomly sampled women at community health centers in a Northeastern city were from groups stratified by race/ethnicity (African American, Hispanic, and white) and by postpartum interval. The used each mother's score on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression Scale (CES-D) as the dependent variable. The main independent variables included the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey and a social network item. They looked interactions between race and social support, race and social networks, and social support and social networks.

Findings:

* The authors conclude that both low or absent social support and social networks were statistically significant and independently related to depressive symptoms.

* Having two or more friends or family members available was associated with a 13.6-point lower mean score on the Depression Scale, compared to women reporting none or only one available person.

* The multivariate models with MOS Social Support scale indicated that each 10-point increase in the MOS Social Support Survey was related to a 2.1-unit lower score on the Depression Scale.

Hopefully new research will continue to look at factors such as race/ethnicity, class, socio-economic status, and social support, and the extent to which they influence PPD and other perinatal mood disorders. There's so much we still don't know!