Maternal postpartum depression literacy subtypes: A latent profile analysis

To explore the potential categories and characteristic differences of maternal postpartum depression literacy.

Cross-sectional survey.

From February 2023 to April 2023, convenience sampling was used to survey 278 women attending postnatal visits to three tertiary level A hospitals. The study included general demographic characteristics, postpartum depression literacy scale, and family caring index scale. Latent profile analysis was performed to identify the categories of maternal postpartum depression literacy, and multiple disordered logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of different categories.

Maternal postpartum depression literacy was divided into three categories: low literacy (41.0 %), moderate literacy (32.4 %), and high literacy (26.6 %). The results showed that work status, education level, whether the pregnancy was planned, whether or not they had participated in mental health-related courses, and family functioning status were factors influencing the category of maternal postpartum depression literacy (P < 0.05).

There was heterogeneity in postpartum depression literacy among mothers. Medical staff should implement targeted interventions according to potential category characteristics and influencing factors to improve the level of postpartum depression literacy.