Abstract
Study Objective
Pregnancy during adolescence is a risk factor for adverse medical and psychosocial
outcomes, including psychiatric illness. Psychiatric illness is linked with obstetric
complications along with impaired maternal functioning in the postpartum period. This
article provides a comprehensive review of the research examining the intersection
of psychopathology and adolescent pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Design
A literature search was conducted using PubMed (Medline), PsycINFO, and CINAHL for
articles published between 1990 and 2013 that examined depression, anxiety, bipolar
disorder, and psychosis during pregnancy and the postpartum period in adolescents
age 21 years or younger. Articles were selected that covered the following topics:
Prevalence or incidence, comorbidity, psychosocial correlates, birth outcomes, parenting,
child outcomes, and psychosocial treatment. Forty articles were found and reviewed.
Results
There is a substantial research base examining self-reported depressive symptoms in
adolescents during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Existing research suggests
that pregnant and parenting adolescents are at greater risk for experiencing depressive
symptoms than pregnant and postpartum adult women. Depression in the perinatal period
is also a risk factor for substance and alcohol abuse and a harsher parenting style
in adolescents. Areas for future research in this population include investigating
the prevalence, psychosocial correlates, and outcomes of clinically diagnosed Major
Depressive Disorder, developing and empirically validating psychotherapeutic treatments,
and focusing upon other psychiatric diagnoses such as bipolar disorder, anxiety, and
psychosis.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 26, 2013
Footnotes
The authors indicate no conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
