The Postpartum Depressive State in Relation to Perceived Rearing: A Prospective Cohort Study.
The postpartum depressive state in relation to perceived rearing: a prospective cohort study.
Filed under: Depression Treatment
PLoS One. 2012; 7(11): e50220
Hayakawa N, Koide T, Okada T, Murase S, Aleksic B, Furumura K, Shiino T, Nakamura Y, Tamaji A, Ishikawa N, Ohoka H, Usui H, Banno N, Morita T, Goto S, Kanai A, Masuda T, Ozaki N
The relationship between perceived rearing and the postpartum depressive state remains unclear. We aimed to examine whether perceived rearing is a risk factor for postpartum depression as measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and whether the score of perceived rearing is affected by depressive mood (the state dependency of perceived rearing).Pregnant women (n?=?448, mean age 31.8±4.2 years) completed the EPDS as a measure of depressive state in early pregnancy (T1), late pregnancy (around 36 weeks), and at 1 month postpartum (T2), and the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) at T1 as a measure of perceived rearing. Changes in the EPDS and the PBI scores from T1 to T2 were compared between the non depressive (ND) group and the postpartum depressive (PD) group.There were no significant differences in any PBI category for perceived rearing between the ND and PD groups at T1. EPDS scores did not change significantly from T1 to T2 in the ND group but increased significantly in the PD group. The PBI maternal care score increased significantly in the ND group (p<0.01), while decreasing in the PD group (p<0.05). Additionally, in both the ND and PD groups, significant negative correlation was observed regarding change in the EPDS and PBI maternal care scores from T1 to T2 (r?=?-0.28, p?=?0.013).The present study suggests that perceived rearing is not a strong risk factor for postpartum depression as measured by the EPDS. Furthermore, the results indicated the state dependency of the PBI maternal care score. HubMed – depression
Men’s Preference for Women’s Facial Features: Testing Homogamy and the Paternity Uncertainty Hypothesis.
Filed under: Depression Treatment
PLoS One. 2012; 7(11): e49791
Bovet J, Barthes J, Durand V, Raymond M, Alvergne A
Male mate choice might be based on both absolute and relative strategies. Cues of female attractiveness are thus likely to reflect both fitness and reproductive potential, as well as compatibility with particular male phenotypes. In humans, absolute clues of fertility and indices of favorable developmental stability are generally associated with increased women’s attractiveness. However, why men exhibit variable preferences remains less studied. Male mate choice might be influenced by uncertainty of paternity, a selective factor in species where the survival of the offspring depends on postnatal paternal care. For instance, in humans, a man might prefer a woman with recessive traits, thereby increasing the probability that his paternal traits will be visible in the child and ensuring paternity. Alternatively, attractiveness is hypothesized to be driven by self-resembling features (homogamy), which would reduce outbreeding depression. These hypotheses have been simultaneously evaluated for various facial traits using both real and artificial facial stimuli. The predicted preferences were then compared to realized mate choices using facial pictures from couples with at least 1 child. No evidence was found to support the paternity uncertainty hypothesis, as recessive features were not preferred by male raters. Conversely, preferences for self-resembling mates were found for several facial traits (hair and eye color, chin dimple, and thickness of lips and eyebrows). Moreover, realized homogamy for facial traits was also found in a sample of long-term mates. The advantages of homogamy in evolutionary terms are discussed.
HubMed – depression
Up-Regulation of leucocytes Genes Implicated in Telomere Dysfunction and Cellular Senescence Correlates with Depression and Anxiety Severity Scores.
Filed under: Depression Treatment
PLoS One. 2012; 7(11): e49677
Teyssier JR, Chauvet-Gelinier JC, Ragot S, Bonin B
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is frequently associated with chronic medical illness responsible of increased disability and mortality. Inflammation and oxidative stress are considered to be the major mediators of the allostatic load, and has been shown to correlate with telomere erosion in the leucocytes of MDD patients, leading to the model of accelerated aging. However, the significance of telomere length as an exclusive biomarker of aging has been questioned on both methodological and biological grounds. Furthermore, telomeres significantly shorten only in patients with long lasting MDD. Sensitive and dynamic functional biomarkers of aging would be clinically useful to evaluate the somatic impact of MDD.To address this issue we have measured in the blood leucocytes of MDD patients (N?=?17) and controls (N?=?16) the expression of two genes identified as robust biomarkers of human aging and telomere dysfunction: p16(INK4a) and STMN1. We have also quantified the transcripts of genes involved in the repair of oxidative DNA damage at telomeres (OGG1), telomere regulation and elongation (TERT), and in the response to biopsychological stress (FOS and DUSP1).The OGG1, p16(INK4a), and STMN1 gene were significantly up-regulated (25 to 100%) in the leucocytes of MDD patients. Expression of p16(INK4a) and STMN1 was directly correlated with anxiety scores in the depression group, and that of p16(INK4a), STMN and TERT with the depression and anxiety scores in the combined sample (MDD plus controls). Furthermore, we identified a unique correlative pattern of gene expression in the leucocytes of MDD subjects.Expression of p16(INK4) and STMN1 is a promising biomarker for future epidemiological assessment of the somatic impact of depressive and anxious symptoms, at both clinical and subclinical level in both depressive patients and general population.
HubMed – depression
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