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Abstract:

The perinatal period is a time of rapid transformation. New changes can bring joy and excitement while also leading to significant levels of stress and heightened risk for perinatal depression. In this period, the likelihood of depression episodes can be twice as high as during other periods of a woman's life. Maladaptive maternal emotion regulation has been suggested as psychological vulnerability. It affects not only maternal mental health but also the mental health of their children and partner. This talk will briefly review evidence from the literature and show results from our studies on how emotion regulation is related to perinatal depression. Furthermore, this talk will also introduce the collaborative research project that investigates cultural differences in emotion regulation and its impacts on perinatal depression among pregnant and postpartum women in Japan and Australia.

Bio: 

Miki Matsunaga is a clinical psychologist and a professor of clinical psychology at Rikkyo University in Japan. Her research focuses on the factors that contribute to the maintenance and aggravation of depression and interventions for depression.