Citation

Boyd RC, Le HN, Somberg R. Arch. Women Ment. Health 2005; 8(3): 141-153.

Affiliation

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA. rboyd@mail.upenn.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00737-005-0096-6

PMID

16133785

Abstract

This paper presents a review and discussion of eight self-report measures used to assess for depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. Because postpartum depression is a significant mental health problem, there is a need for reliable and valid screening instruments. Published psychometric data (e.g., reliability, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, concurrent validity) of each self-report instrument are presented and critiqued. Results suggest that the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale is the most extensively studied measure with postpartum women with moderate psychometric soundness. This review illustrates the need for more research in this area. Issues involved in the selection of measures are considered. Implications for clinical practice, research, culture and language are discussed.

Language: en