Methods

Introduction

Results

Conclusions & Future Directions

A Self-Report Study on Postpartum

DepressionKaren Kandalaft1, Jadine Daley1, Sophia D’Alessandro1, and Randy Corpuz1

1University of Massachusetts Boston

Prediction

References

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by an NSF research award (BCS-1147671)

and an NSF fellowship awarded to RC (DGE-1144085). We would like to

thank the families who participated in this project and the community

organizations that helped bring attention to this research. We would also

like to thank the many research assistants at UC Santa Barbara that

contributed countless hours of work toward this research program and the

students at UMass Boston who are currently analyzing this data with RC.

Lactation

•Most demanding period of reproduction

oMoms need more support postpartum

oLactation is calibration to acquirable

maternal resources for infant

Evolution

•Male care has load-lightening effects:

oShortens breeding intervals

oShortens lactation

oIncrease female fecundity

Bargaining Model of Depression

•"Labor strike" to get others to notice and help

•Withholding investment in all benefit providing

to others

A lack of spousal support during pregnancy could lead to an overwhelm on the part of the

mother, and manifests as PDD to evoke paternal contribution post birth.

Participants (n= 73) completed remote self-

report surveys via Qualtrics, including

Beck’s Depression Inventory and Couple’s

Satisfaction Index.

•Participants for this study are females.

•Participant age ranges from 25 -76 years,

with a mean age of M = 43.4 years (SD =

11.7)

•Median incomes was reported as 45K-60K

annually.

•Ethnicities as reported were; European

American (72.5%); Asian American

(9.7%); African American (7.3%); Hispanic

or Latino/a (6.1%); Native American

(1.5%), and Other (0.9%)

• BDI scores underwent log transformation to normalize the data.

• Bivariate Pearson Correlation revealed a significant effect of -0.55

• The size of this effect leads us to believe that a future sample will also reveal a strong effect when applied to the framework hypothesis.

• This study served as a pilot to a more complex project in which the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale will be used to cater to a more specific hypothesis.

• Further research is required to investigate effect in same-sex couples and those who rely on alloparents.

• The pilot and following studies aim to incorporate evolutionary psychopathology perspectives into personalized mental health treatment.

Hagen, E. H. (2003). The bargaining model of depression. Genetic and cultural evolution of cooperation, 95-123.Meade, J., Nam, K., Beckerman, A., & Hatchwell, B. (2010). Consequences of 'load-lightening' for future indirect fitness gains by helpers in a cooperatively breeding bird. Journal of Animal Ecology, 79(3), 529-537Schlomer, G. L., Del Giudice, M., & Ellis, B. J. (2011). Parent–offspring conflict theory: An evolutionary framework for understanding conflict within human families. Psychological Review, 118(3), 496