Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between social support and couples relationships, and post-natal depression among public primary school teachers in Ibadan North local government, Oyo State. This study examined the relationship between the three variables, as it had not been done before, and made use of the middle-range biological theory, the social capital theory, and the operant conditioning theory. The research design used was a descriptive survey; the population of 600 teachers in public primary schools was used. The total population from each public primary school at Ibadan north Local Government was used, the schools were 73 in number. The researcher made use of the research instrument SSCRPND1. The Questionnaire had four (4) subscales: the knowledge of post-natal depression (0.80), the EPDS (0.87), MSPSS (0.94) and CSI (0.84). Descriptive statistics, including frequency count, percentages, mean, and standard deviation, were utilized to answer the research questions. Inferential statistical tools of the Pearson’s product moment correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha levels. The Pearson’s correlation coefficients obtained were (x= -0.141) and (x=-0.149) and the p values were (p= 0.012) and (0.014) which suggested that the correlation between social support and postpartum depression, couples relationships, and post-natal depression was not statistically significant. In conclusion, both social support and couples relationships have a strong relationship with post-natal depression in the lives of the teachers of public primary schools in the Ibadan North Local Government Area, Ibadan. It is recommended, among others, that, awareness be created in schools all over the nation about PPD, its effects, and its preventive measures.