• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.153-167
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• 2011

This study analyzed changes in postpartum depression in mothers from one month after childbirth to the first year using panel data collected overtime, in an effort to determine the relationship between the amount of change and child-rearing system variables. The subjects were 1097 mothers who belonged to both the lower and upper $30^{th}$ percentile groups in the depression change distribution of the 2008 Korean Children Panel Study (PSKC), a large, population-based study conducted by the Korea Institute of Childcare and Education. The data were analyzed by t-tests, $x^2$ tests, partial correlation coefficient analyses and regression analyses. The results are summarized as follows: First, the mothers' postpartum depression showed a significant increase during the first year as opposed to the first month after birth. Second, after controlling for socio-demographical variables of the mothers, the changes related to depression showed a positive relationship with child-rearing stress, and the child's emotional temperament, but showed a negative relationship with the mother's self-esteem, the child's birth order, and the father's participation in child-rearing activities. Third, variables having a significant effect on changes in postpartum depression were the mother's self-esteem and child-rearing stress, the child's age in months, and social support. Variables pertaining to the mother's characteristics variables had a more powerful effect than other child-rearing system variable categories. The results suggest the necessity to develop a parental education program or a mother-child health service in consideration of the variables that affect mothers, as determined in this study, in an effort to prevent postpartum depression.