Psychometric ante-natal predictors of post-natal depressed mood

One hundred and nine women were studied during the course of pregnancy in an attempt to predict which of them would later rate themselves as suffering from depressed mood up to twelve months post-natally. The psychometric measures used comprised the Zung Self-Rating Scale to measure depression, the DSSI/SAD sub-scale to measure anxiety and the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire. Post-natal depression observed up to twelve months post-partum was positively associated with first trimester ante-natal scores on all three measures. The HDHQ and the DSSI/SAD measures were good predictors of depression at six weeks post-partum and both correlated significantly at six and nine months post-partum, whereas the Zung measure predicted depression at nine and twelve months as well as at six weeks post-partum. Parity was significantly associated with severe depression at six months post-partum.