Experience of pregnancy and delivery as predictors of postpartum depression

Alan Tuohy, Cynthia McVey

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    30 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This research examined experiences of pregnancy and delivery as predictors of three subscales identified within the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (nonspecific depression, anhedonia, and anxiety). Mothers of babies under 1 year (N = 415) completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and gave information as to number of pregnancies, number of children, and their ratings of the difficulty of the course of pregnancy and delivery. Number of pregnancies and number of children did not predict scores on any of these subscales. Difficulty in the course of pregnancy was a significant positive predictor of nonspecific depression, and difficulty of delivery was a significant positive predictor of anxiety. Neither of these variables significantly predicted anhedonia. These results provide evidence of the heterogeneity of postpartum depression, indicating that risk factors differentially influence subscales of the EPDS.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)43-47
    Number of pages5
    JournalPsychology, Health and Medicine
    Volume13
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2008

    Keywords

    • psychology
    • Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale
    • difficult pregnancy
    • postpartum anxiety
    • postpartum depression

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