Journal article
The factor structure of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale among perinatal high-risk and community samples in London
- Abstract:
- Timely and accurate detection of perinatal mental health problems is essential for the wellbeing of both mother and child. Growing evidence has suggested that the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is not a unidimensional measure of perinatal depression, but can be used to screen for anxiety disorders. We aimed to assess the factor structure of the EPDS in 3 different groups of women: n = 266 pregnant women at high-risk of depression (“Perinatal Stress Study”), n = 471 pregnant women from a community sample, and n = 637 early postnatal women from a community sample (“developing Human Connectome Project”). Exploratory factor analysis (40% of each sample) and confirmatory factor analysis (60% of each sample) were performed. The relationship between EPDS scores and history of mental health concerns was investigated. Results suggested that a 3-factor model (depression, anxiety, and anhedonia) is the most appropriate across groups. The anxiety subscale (EPDS-3A) emerged consistently and was related to maternal history of anxiety disorders in the prenatal sample (W = 6861, p < 0.001). EPDS total score was related to history of mental health problems in both the prenatal (W = 12,185, p < 0.001) and postnatal samples (W = 30,044, p < 0.001). In both high-risk and community samples in the perinatal period, the EPDS appears to consist of depression, anxiety, and anhedonia subscales. A better understanding of the multifactorial structure of the EPDS can inform diagnosis and management of women in the prenatal and postnatal period. Further research is required to validate the EPDS-3A as a screening tool for anxiety.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 861.5KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1007/s00737-021-01153-0
Authors
+ Wellcome Trust
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/029chgv08
- Grant:
- WT203148/Z/16/Z
+ Medical Research Council
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/03x94j517
- Grant:
- MR/N013700
+ European Research Council
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/0472cxd90
- Grant:
- 319456
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Journal:
- Archives of Women's Mental Health More from this journal
- Volume:
- 25
- Issue:
- 1
- Pages:
- 157-169
- Place of publication:
- Austria
- Publication date:
- 2021-07-10
- Acceptance date:
- 2021-06-07
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1435-1102
- ISSN:
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1434-1816
- Pmid:
-
34244862
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
1187250
- Local pid:
-
pubs:1187250
- Deposit date:
-
2024-09-09
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Lautarescu et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2021
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2021. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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