Partner support for women’s antidepressant treatment and its association with depressive symptoms in pregnant women, mothers, and women planning pregnancy

Purpose: To examine the association between partner support for women’s antidepressant treatment and depressive symptoms in pregnant women, those planning pregnancy, and mothers who ever used antidepressants. Methods: We included 334 women (n=44 planners, n=182 pregnant, n=108 mothers) ever treated with antidepressants within the HEALTHx2 study, a web-based cross-sectional study conducted across Norway in June 2020 to June 2021. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and two questions of the Patient Health Questionnaire measured depressive symptoms, by degree of severity and for depressed mood, anxiety, and anhedonia sub-dimensions. Partner support was measured using one item from the Antidepressant Compliance Questionnaire. Association was estimated via unadjusted and adjusted linear and logistic regression models. Results: Being unsupported by the partner was associated with increased odds of reporting moderate-to-very-severe depressive symptoms in mothers (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 3.57; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04–12.19) and pregnant women (aOR, 3.26; 95% CI, 0.95–11.14), relative to being supported. Pregnant women (adjusted mean difference (β), 0.76; 95% CI, 0.14–1.38) and mothers (β, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.23–1.64) with no support for their antidepressant treatment presented greater symptoms of anhedonia; for women planning pregnancy, this association emerged in relation to anxiety symptoms (β among non-users of antidepressant, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.04–4.13). Conclusions: Partner support for women’s antidepressant treatment may play a key role in depressive symptoms severity and the subtypes of anhedonia and anxiety, among women planning pregnancy, pregnant women, and mothers. This highlights the importance of partner inclusion in the complex decision-making process for antidepressant treatment around the time of pregnancy.