THE JOINT PREDICTIVE ROLE OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION AND PAIN CATASTROPHIZING ON MARITAL SATISFACTION AMONG FIRST-TIME MOTHERS

The transition to motherhood is both a psychological, physical and interpersonal change and can impact on women's marital relationships. In this study, the combined ability of postpartum depression and pain catastrophizing to predict marital satisfaction in first-time mothers was investigated. The total number of 500 first time mothers were selected from selected hospitals in Gujrat, using quantitative cross-sectional correlational design. The demographic information form, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Postpartum Depression Screening Scale and ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale were used to collect data. Pearson product–moment correlations and multiple linear regression analyses were used to explore the associations between the study variables and the combined predictive power of postpartum depression and pain catastrophizing on marital satisfaction. Results showed that pain catastrophizing was significantly positively associated with postpartum depression (r = .819, p < .001) and significantly negatively associated with marital satisfaction (r = −.208, p < .001). Marital satisfaction was also significantly negatively correlated with postpartum depression (r = −.487, p < .001). The overall regression model was significant, F(2, 500) = 133.145, p < .001, explaining 34.8% of the variance in marital satisfaction (R² = .348, adjusted R² = .345). After controlling for postpartum depression, pain catastrophizing (β = .580, p < .001) and marital satisfaction (β = −.961, p < .001) had significant unique regression coefficients. The results emphasize the need to consider the psychological effects of postpartum in understanding marital satisfaction among their first-time mothers. Keywords: Postpartum depression, pain catastrophizing, marital satisfaction, first-time mothers, postpartum adjustment