Trust and well-being of postpartum women during the COVID-19 crisis: Depression and fear of COVID-19

During crisis, trust has been found to have a buffering effect in the prevention of the deterioration of mental wellbeing, as trust is considered to reflect the individual's capability to gain social resources including both formal and informal support. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, political trust has been found to reduce anxiety. Taking these findings into account, this study explores the association of generalised and political trust with mental well-being on current postpartum women who were particularly at risk due to a decline in social support leaving them an increased burden of caring newborns during the pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in October 2020 in Japan (n=558). Depressive symptoms (above the cutoff of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)) and Fear of Coronavirus-19 Scale (FCV-19S) scores were used as mental well-being indicators. Generalised and political trust were captured by binary variables. Results of regression analyses, in which covariates were fully adjusted, showed that higher generalised trust had a statistically significant association with lower possibility of depressive symptoms and a lower FCV-19S score, while political trust was not significantly associated with either indicator. For further understanding, we divided respondents into two groups; women living in cities where higher COVID-19 cases were reported and women living in areas with lower COVID-19 cases, to test whether the role of trust differs depending on the infection spread status. It was found that a higher generalised trust was significantly associated with a lower probability of having depressive symptoms in the areas with lower COVID-19 cases. However, statistical significance was not observed in the areas with high COVID-19 cases. This highlighted that even postpartum women who were normally capable of receiving formal and informal social support need to be taken care of in the current situation.

Automated summary

Trust has been found to play a significant role in the mental well-being of postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic, with generalised trust showing a strong association with lower depressive symptoms and Fear of Coronavirus-19 Scale scores. The study also highlighted that the impact of trust on mental well-being may vary depending on the infection spread status, as higher generalised trust was only significantly associated with lower depressive symptoms in areas with lower COVID-19 cases. This suggests that even women who usually have access to social support need special attention and care during the current situation.