Cultural and Socioeconomic Determinants of Postpartum Depression and Perceived Stress of Chinese Women at Childbearing and Child-Rearing Stages

Abstract

To decrease the proportion of women delivering a live birth experiencing mental illness is one of the goals for Healthy People 2020. Maternal women in developing countries suffer disproportionally from mental illnesses. China, as the most populous nation in the world, used to have the highest suicide rate among women at reproductive ages. This dissertation aimed to explore the demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural factors that influenced or correlated to the mental health of women at postpartum and the childrearing stages. This dissertation contains one systemic literature review examining factors associated with postpartum depression and two quantitative studies on factors related to women’s perceived stress at childrearing stages. The quantitative studies utilized secondary data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. The dissertation found that factors which pertain to Chinese culture, society, or medical resources play a significant role in Chinese women’s postpartum depression, such as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship, “doing the month”, and insufficient maternal medical services and resources. The analysis yielded that significant predictors for the mental health of rural and non-rural women were different from each other. Further, in non-rural areas, unemployed women at the childrearing stages residing in non-rural areas in China have higher perceived stress than their employed counterparts. This dissertation study found that Chinese women at childbearing and childrearing stages are a vulnerable population, but yet remain highly understudied. Socioeconomic and cultural factors are found to play an essential role in the mental health of Chinese women at childbearing and childrearing stages. The dissertation study provides implications for future policymaking and public health practice. The identification of risk factors and current programs for postpartum depression are a useful reference for future programs targeted to prevent postpartum depression (PPD). The finding of the dissertation suggests the society pay attention to the mental health of the emerging population of the full-time homemakers in non-rural areas under the new policy.