Multiple Births and Maternal Depressive Symptoms

Yoonjoung Choi, Johns Hopkins University
Cynthia Minkovitz, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

The multiple births rate increased by 76% over the last two decades. However, despite wide recognition of obstetric and neonatal risks associated with multiple births, little is known about its impact on maternal depression. The study purpose was to assess the relation between multiple births and maternal depressive symptoms measured 9 months after delivery. Data came from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort, a longitudinal study following a nationally representative sample of children born in 2001. Depressive symptoms were measured at 9 months using an abbreviated version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to study the association between multiple births and maternal depressive symptoms. Adjusted odds ratio of having moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms was 1.43 for mothers of multiples compared to mothers of singletons. Greater attention is needed in health care settings to address maternal depression in families with multiple births.