The relationship between perinatal depression, anxiety and sexist beliefs

Objective: Exposure to sexism is negatively associated with women's mental health.On the other hand, there is limited research in the literature on sexism and mental health during pregnancy.This study aimed to investigate the relationship between common mental disorders during pregnancy, such as depression and anxiety, and sexist beliefs.Method: For this scope, 170 pregnant women over 18 were contacted.All participants completed information forms measuring sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, the Tilburg Pregnancy Distress Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory.The correlation coefficient was calculated for the relationships between variables.Two separate hierarchical regression models were tested to determine the predictors of depression and anxiety.Results: Depression and anxiety had different characteristics in terms of predictive variables.Consistent with the literature, negative affect, partner involvement, and perceived social support significantly predict both depression and anxiety.Negative affect and partner involvement are factors of the Tilburg Pregnancy Distress Scale.However, there is no common predictive variable other than those three.In addition to this common triad, internalized hostile sexism significantly predicts depression.Moreover, low education and health problems related to pregnancy are significant variables in predicting only anxiety levels but not depression.In this respect, the findings show that there are variables that predict prenatal depression and anxiety in common, as well as different predictors of these two mental health problems observed in the perinatal period.