http://informahealthcare.com/pog ISSN: 0167-482X (print), 1743-8942 (electronic) J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol, 2014; 35(2): 55–61 ! 2014 Informa UK Ltd. DOI: 10.3109/0167482X.2014.914491 ORIGINAL ARTICLE State and trait anxiety as a psychopathological phenomenon correlated with postpartum depression in a Romanian sample: a pilot study Virgil-Radu Enatescu 1 , Ileana Enatescu 2 , Marius Craina 2 , Adrian Gluhovschi 2 , Ion Papava 1 , Radu Romosan 1 , Catalin Marian 3 , Angela Oprea 1 , and Elena Bernad 2 1 Department of Psychiatry, 2 Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Neonatology, and 3 Department of Biochemistry, University of Medicine and Pharmacy ‘‘Victor Babes’’ Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania Abstract The current study aimed to investigate the rate of postpartum depression and its correlation with both state and trait anxiety. A cross-sectional study was performed on 80 mothers monitored in the Ambulatory of ‘‘Bega’’ Obstetrics Clinic from Timisoara. The presence of depression was assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, using a cut-off 10. State anxiety was assessed using the Beck Anxiety Inventory and anchored visual analogue scales. Trait anxiety was dimensionally assessed using the Karolinska Scale of Personality (KSP). More than half of recruited mothers presented a global score significant for postpartum depression (N ¼ 43, 53.8%). Both perspectives of anxiety, as a state (p50.001) and as personality traits (e.g. p ¼ 0.003 for psychic anxiety), were significantly correlated with postpartum depression. Furthermore, the levels of worry related to self-perceived health status of both mother and infant were significant in mothers with postpartum depression. We can conclude that postpartum depression was a highly-frequent psychopathological phenomenon among mothers from this sample set. In addition, both state and trait anxiety were common co- occurring clinical features. Keywords Dimensional personality, postpartum depressions, psychopathology, state anxiety, trait anxiety History Received 9 September 2013 Revised 3 December 2013 Accepted 25 February 2014 Introduction Besides the well-known negative outcomes on the functional and health status of mothers, which are mostly superimposed with those of common depression, prospective research data have revealed serious consequences of postpartum depression on infants’ growth and psychological development [1]. Scholarly data have revealed that depression is more frequent in the perinatal period than it was previously thought. Recently, the preconception pertaining to the protective role of pregnancy towards depression was discarded by a plethora of data from clinical studies [2]. These studies have outlined that in many cases the postpartum depression starts before the delivery and lasts several weeks during the postpartum period. Therefore, at least in some cases, a depressive temporal continuum, which is extended over the entire perinatal period, can be brought into discussion [3]. Certainly, there is a possibility that depression starts as being subclinical during the antenatal period, but subsequently becomes more severe after delivery, due to the inherent additional psychosocial and biological stress factors. However, it is widely accepted that in certain cases the depression will occur during the postpartum period without any continuity, having its origin in the antenatal period. In other cases, mothers have had one or more previous clinically depressive episodes, so it is debat- able whether the postpartum depressive episode should be considered as being a different disorder rather than a common recurrence related to the same unipolar depression that preceded pregnancy. Quite often, the postpartum depressive episode may occur as a part of a bipolar affective disorder [4]. According to existing data, postpartum depression is experienced by 10–15% of women in the first 12 months after delivery [5]. These figures are very different depending on the research methodology and definition criteria used regarding the postpartum period. For example, if we take into account the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria, the postpartum period is considered as being the four weeks after delivery. But according to ICD-10 diagnostic criteria, the postpartum period consists of six weeks after delivery [6,7]. Several biological and psychological factors have been mentioned as having a determinant role in postpartum depression. Among these, alteration of estrogen levels and increased level of prolactin have been suggested as being involved in the pathogenesis of postpartum depression [8]. Address for correspondence: Virgil-Radu Enatescu, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Pharmacy ‘‘Victor Babes’’ Timisoara, Iancu Vacaresu no. 21, Timisoara 300182, Romania. Tel: +40-723374896. Email: enatescu.virgil@umft.ro J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by 109.103.135.135 on 05/15/14 For personal use only.