Table 3
Correlational relationships among breastfeeding, depressive symptoms, stress, and inflammatory cytokines at month 6 postpartum (N = 119).
Variables Primarily breast
feeding
EPDS
score
Perceived stress
score
Salivary cortisol
at 8 AM
Salivary cortisol
at 8:30 AM
IL-6
Demographic
Age .33** .02 .09 .15 .19* .25**
Low income (1 = yes) .46*** .009 .01 .14 .12 .30***
Other child at home (1 = Yes) .03 .04 .06 .06 .04 .04
Not married (1 = Yes) .03 .01 .05 .09 .007 .01
History of depression (1 = yes) .01 .13 .24 .07 .05 .01
Major life changes (1 = yes) .24** .24** .16 .10 .02 .12
Sleeping hours .22* .33*** .21 .06 .17 .12
Depression
EPDS score .006 1 .72*** .04 .11 .04
Stress
Perceived stress .09 .72*** 1 .005 .05 .11
Salivary cortisol .14 .02 .05 .71*** .03 .02
Awakening response
Area under the curve .01 .009 .14 .32** .40** .11
Cortisol at 8 AM .27** .04 .005 1 .57*** .01
Cortisol at 8:30 AM .22* .11 .05 .57*** 1 .06
Cortisol at 11 AM .06 .08 .14 .10 .10 .08
Cortisol at 4 PM .003 .25* .27** .10 .19 .01
Cortisol at 8 PM .02 .12 .16 .07 .22* .09
Inflammatory markers
IL-6 .19* .04 .11 .01 .06 1