Association between childhood trauma experience and postpartum mental distress

Zaradi pomanjkanja tovrstnih raziskav in literature na slovenskem območju smo si z našo raziskavo zadali nalogo preučiti poporodno posttravmatsko stresno motnjo (PP-PTSM), njeno prevalenco v slovenski populaciji in komorbidnost s poporodno depresijo (PPD). Zanimal nas je tudi vpliv travme iz otroštva tako na razvoj PP-PTSM kot tudi na PPD. Vprašalnik je v celoti izpolnilo 361 žensk, ki so rodile v zadnjih 12 mesecih, delno pa 434 žensk, a smo jih zaradi izpolnitve vsaj dveh vprašalnikov vseeno vključili v raziskavo. Večina (72,1 %) udeleženk je bilo starih od 25 do 35 let. Za merjenje poporodnega depresivnega razpoloženja smo uporabili Edinburško lestvico poporodne depresije – EPDS, z Lestvico porodne travme – CityBiTS smo merili poporodno PTSM, izkušnje travme v otroštvu in mladostništvu pa smo ocenjevali z retrospektivnim merskim instrumentom CTQ. Pri 116 udeleženkah je bila izmerjena visoka verjetnost depresije. 10 udeleženk je izpolnjevalo vse kriterije za PP-PTSM. Največ udeleženk (17,3 %) je v otroštvu doživelo emocionalno zanemarjanje, temu sledijo emocionalna zloraba (10,9 %), fizično zanemarjanje (10,6 %), spolna zloraba (9,7 %) in fizična zloraba (5,8 %). Zaznali smo razlike v izraženosti depresivnega razpoloženja in simptomov PTSM med skupinama žensk, ki so porodile zdravega otroka, in tistimi, ki so izgubile otroka med nosečnostjo, po porodu ali s prisotnimi zdravstvenimi zapleti pri novorojencu. Skupini, razdeljeni glede na izkušnjo poroda, se razlikujeta v izraženosti depresivnega razpoloženja. Rezultati raziskave so pokazali povezavo med travmo iz otroštva in pojavnostjo simptomov PPD in PP-PTSM. Na našem vzorcu sta s PP-PTSM najizraziteje povezana emocionalna zloraba in fizično zanemarjanje, s PPD pa emocionalna zloraba. Analiza je pokazala tudi visoko, statistično pomembno korelacijo med simptomi PPD in PP-PTSM.Due to the lack of such research and literature in Slovenian language, our study aimed to investigate postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PP-PTSD), its prevalence in the Slovenian population and comorbidity with postpartum depression (PPD). We were also interested in the impact of childhood trauma on the development of both PP-PTSD and PPD. The questionnaire was fully completed by 361 women who gave birth in the past 12 months. 434 completed the survey only partially, but were still included because they completed at least two of the questionnaires. Majority (72.1 %) participants were between 25 and 35 years old. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to measure postnatal depressed mood, the Childbirth Trauma Scale (CityBiTS) was used to measure postnatal PTSD, and childhood and adolescent trauma experiences were assessed with the CTQ retrospective instrument. 116 participants were measured as having a high probability of depression and 10 participants met full criteria for PP-PTSM. Most female participants (17.3 %) experienced emotional neglect in childhood, followed by emotional abuse (10.9 %), physical neglect (10.6 %), sexual abuse (9.7 %) and physical abuse (5.8 %). We found differences in the expression of depressed mood and symptoms of PTSD between the groups of women who gave birth to a healthy baby and those who lost a baby during pregnancy, after delivery or with medical complications for the newborn. The two groups divided according to the experience of childbirth differ in the expression of depressed mood. The results of the study showed an association between childhood trauma and the incidence of PPD and PP-PTSD symptoms. In our sample, emotional abuse and physical neglect are most strongly associated with PP-PTSD, while emotional abuse is most strongly associated with PPD. The analysis also showed a high statistically significant correlation between PPD symptoms and PP-PTSD