Perinatal depression and referential activity: an exploratory study on childbirth narratives.

According to Wilma Bucci’s theory, psychological and emotional wellbeing\r\nare strictly associated with the ability of connecting subsymbolic\r\nexperiences, tying words and images together; such a process, named\r\nreferential, allows a modulation of the self regulation states. On the\r\ncontrary, dissociation, at any level, among the three systems of emotional\r\ninformation processing (non verbal-non symbolic, non verbal-symbolic,\r\nverbal-symbolic), may often lead to psychopathology. On the basis of these\r\nassumptions, the present exploratory work aims to determine whether\r\ndepressive symptoms during the perinatal period might be characterized by\r\na greater difficulty in connecting sensory experiences, emotions and\r\nlanguage, or, in other words, whether they can be associated to a poor\r\nreferential activity (RA). More specifically, the connection between\r\ndepressive symptoms and referential activity was investigated within a\r\nsample of 50 primiparous Italian women, divided into two groups according\r\nto the score obtained at the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale\r\n(“depressed/at risk women” N=11; “non depressed women N=39). Women\r\nwere administered a semi-structured interview about childbirth one month\r\nafter delivery and their RA was measured. The Italian Weighted Referential\r\nActivity Dictionary (IWRAD) was used to perform a computer assisted\r\nanalysis of the RA. Results show some differences between the referential\r\nactivity scores obtained by depressed and non depressed mothers; the\r\noutcomes, which will be further discussed and analyzed during the congress,\r\ncall for some clinical reflections on perinatal distress and on the possibility\r\nthat assessing RA after childbirth may help the screening process and the\r\nidentification of at risk situations.