Does Motherhood Raise Depression Risk?

Working moms are less likely to show symptoms of depression than stay-at-home moms, MSNBC.com reports, citing a new study. Working moms aren’t off the hook, though. Those who are harder on themselves when it come to setting realistic expectations at balancing work and family end up having higher rates of depression than their more laid-back counterparts.

Researchers analyzed survey results from 1,600 married US women between the ages of 22 and 30 who had children at home. The information was collected as part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and asked women’s opinions on a series of statements that seemed to hold outdates ideas on working women and family. Researchers then went back and measured levels of depression in the women at age 40.

Overall, women who were employed either full or part time were less likely to be depressed than those who stayed at home. Signs of depression included difficulty concentrating, feeling lonely, sad or restless, having trouble sleeping or getting going in the morning and feeling unable to shake the blues.

But working women surveyed who were less sure about the ability of women to balance careers and family were also less apt to show symptoms of depression than women who thought it was going to be easy to do both, according to the study.

"The findings really point to the mismatch between women's expectations about their ability to balance work and family. Women still do the bulk of household labor and child care, even when they're employed full time," said study author Katrina Leupp, a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Some of the women who think it's not difficult to work and take care of kids may also be buying into the "supermom" complex -- pressuring themselves to be overachievers in all aspects of life, Leupp said.

Treatment experts know that addiction rates are higher for those who suffer from mental health disorders including depression, so the findings are of interest to those who work to treat substance abuse. But treating co-occurring disorders like addiction and mental health issues simultaneously – often referred to as “dual diagnosis treatment” – success rates are higher than regular addiction treatment.

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