Date of Award
2008
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Program
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Supervisor
Dr. M. Karen Campbell
Second Advisor
Dr. Susan E. Evers
Third Advisor
Dr. William R. Avison
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Prenatal depression is a significant public health concern. OBJECTIVES: To contextualize the roles of zinc intake, psychosocial stress and baseline sociodemographic factors, as they inter-relate in the development of depressive symptoms, in a cohort of pregnant women from London (ON). HYPOTHESES: 1) Psychosocial stress serves as a partial mediator between baseline sociodemographic factors and zinc intake; 2) Zinc intake serves as a partial mediator between baseline sociodemographic factors and the development of depressive symptoms, and between psychosocial stress and the development of depressive symptoms. METHODS: Data were from the Prenatal Health Project. Regression methods were used. Baron and Kenny criteria were applied to test mediation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Social disadvantage, higher psychosocial stress, and lower zinc intake were associated with increased depressive symptoms. None of the hypotheses on mediation met the Baron and Kenny criteria. However, subsequent analyses suggested that zinc intake functioned instead as a moderator between stress and depressive symptoms.
Recommended Citation
Roy, Amrita, "THE ROLES OF NUTRITION AND PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS IN A CAUSAL MODEL OF MATERNAL PRENATAL DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS" (2008). Digitized Theses. 4356.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/4356