Temporal Relationship Between Intimate Partner Violence and Postpartum Depression in a Sample of Low Income Women Alexandre Faisal-Cury • Paulo Rossi Menezes • Ana Fla ´via Pires Lucas d’Oliveira • Lilia Blima Schraiber • Claudia S. Lopes Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 Abstract To estimate whether there is a temporal asso- ciation between Postpartum Depression (PPD) and intimate partner violence (IPV), and to assess the potential role of social support on this relationship. A cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2006 and March 2007 with 701 low income women who received prenatal and post- partum care in primary health care units of the public sector in Sa ˜o Paulo, Brazil. The Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20) was used to assess the presence of PPD. Struc- tured standardized questionnaires were used to assess IPV and social support. The prevalence of PPD was estimated with a 95 % confidence interval. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios were calculated using Poisson regression to examine the association between PPD and exposure variables. Values of p \ 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The prevalence of PPD was 27.9 % (95 %CI 24.6:31.2). The prevalence of psychological IPV was 38.6 %, physical IPV 23.4 %, and sexual IPV 7.1 %. The multivariate analysis showed that PPD was strongly asso- ciated with current psychological and physical/sexual vio- lence, after controlling for confounding factors, and less so with past (prenatal or lifetime) IPV. Presence of social support was an independent protective factor for PPD. Identifying and addressing intimate partner violence, including psychological violence, in the postpartum period should be considered as part of a comprehensive approach to caring for new mothers. Keywords Intimate partner violence Á Postpartum depression Á Common mental disorders Á Social support Introduction Postpartum depression (PPD) affects 10–15 % of mothers within the first year after giving birth [1]. In developing countries [2–4] this rate is even higher. Moreover, many studies report the detrimental effects of PPD on the cognitive and emotional development of children [5]. PPD has been associated with the discontinuation of breastfeeding [6]. However, PPD is usually underdiagnosed and undertreated [7, 8]. Several risk factors have been associated with PPD, including history of intimate partner violence [9–12]. Youn- ger mothers and those experiencing partner-related stress or physical abuse might be more likely to develop PPD [13]. Intimate partner violence (IPV) encompasses a broad range of abuses including psychological, physical, and sexual violence. Studies around the world have shown rates of physical violence perpetrated by intimate male partners occurring at least once in a lifetime varying from 10 to 56 %. Between 10 and 30 % of the women in these studies also reported that they had experienced sexual violence. A Brazilian study found that among women aged 15–49 years, 50.7 % reported some kind of IPV [14]. Most studies show an association between PPD and IPV during the postpartum period. Less is known about the temporal effects of IPV (past or current violence) on PPD. In addition, it is important to know if different types of A. Faisal-Cury (&) Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Sa ˜o Paulo, Rua Dr Ma ´rio Ferraz 135/42, Sa ˜o Paulo 01453-010, Brazil e-mail: lim39@usp.br P. R. Menezes Á A. F. P. L. d’Oliveira Á L. B. Schraiber Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Sa ˜o Paulo, Sa ˜o Paulo, Brazil C. S. Lopes Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Social Medicine, State University of Rio de Janeiro (IMS/UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 123 Matern Child Health J DOI 10.1007/s10995-012-1127-3