The mediational role of social support in the relationship between stress and antenatal anxiety and depressive symptoms among Australian women: a mediational analysis

Abstract Background Pregnancy can be a stressful period for most women and their family members, and the mental wellbeing of pregnant women can face serious challenges. Social support can play a role in improving the psychological well-being of pregnant women by enhancing the stress coping ability and alleviating stressful conditions. The current study aimed to assess the mediating effects of social support in the relationship between perceived stress and depressive symptoms as well as anxiety symptoms during pregnancy among Australian women. Methods Of the 8,010 women who completed Survey 6 of the 1973–78 Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) cohort in 2012, those who reported being pregnant (n = 493) were included in the current analyses. Antenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed using the 10 item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D-10) scale, and the 9-item Goldberg Anxiety and Depression scale (GADS) respectively. The 19 item-Medical Outcomes Study Social Support index (MOSS) was used to examine social support. A parallel mediation model was used to explore the mediational role of each domain of social support between perceived stress and antenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms. Result The study found that emotional/informational support has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between perceived stress and antenatal depressive symptoms (β = 0.371, 95% CI: 0.067, 0.799) and on the relationship between perceived stress and antenatal anxiety symptoms (β = 0.217, 95% CI: 0.029, 0.462). Affectionate support/positive social interaction and tangible support was found to play no significant mediation role between stress and antenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions Emotional/informational support appears to play a mediating role in the relationship between stress and antenatal depressive as well as between stress and antenatal anxiety symptoms. In order to further protect pregnant women from the effects of stress, policy makers and maternal health professionals are advised to develop community-based social support programs to enhance prenatal psychosocial support and ensure pregnant women have adequate emotional/information support.