Anxiety and depressive symptoms, and positive and negative couple interactions among postpartum mothers and fathers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Introduction: The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and
couples’ relationships may be particularly higher in vulnerable groups, including
mothers and fathers during the transition to parenthood. This study compared mental
health symptoms and couples’ relationship quality among parents who were at
6 months postpartum before or during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A sample of
109 primiparous mothers and fathers recruited before the COVID-19 pandemic were
assessed at 6 months postpartum, before (n = 69) or during the COVID-19 pandemic
(n = 40). Participants completed self-reported measures of anxiety and depressive
symptoms, and couples’ positive and negative interactions. Results: Mothers and
fathers assessed at 6 months postpartum during the COVID-19 pandemic reported more
depressive symptoms and more couples’ negative interactions than mothers and fathers
assessed at 6 months postpartum before the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion: Findings
suggested the COVID-19 pandemic may have negatively impacted the adjustment of
postpartum parents, but causality cannot be determined from these cross-sectional analyses.
The COVID-19 pandemic may be an adverse condition for parents’ postnatal mental health
and couples’ relationships. Findings contribute to the literature on the transition to
parenthood by providing evidence on the burden that the COVID-19 pandemic can add to
the already stressful experiences associated with the postpartum period.
This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI- 01- 0145- FEDER- 007653). This research was also supported by FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade - COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT under the project PTDC/ SAU/SAP/116738/2010 and individual grant (SFRH/BD/115048/2016).