• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.49 no.9
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• pp.59-72
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• 2011

This study examined whether there are underlying latent classes of growth trajectories of maternal depression in the Korean population. Data from the first phase of the Panel Study of Korean Children (PSKC) of the Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCE) were used for this study. The final sample of participants included 1,471 mothers, who completed three interviews: at birth, at one month, and at four months. A two-class model consisting of depression (12.3%) and non-depression (87.7%) was considered the best-fitting solution using Mplus 3.13. The changes in postnatal depression in the Korean population within four weeks after childbirth, which is the period of "postpartum onset", seem to be important. Logistic regression analysis showed that duration of breast-feeding and planned pregnancy effects were significantly associated with trajectory class membership.