Chemical dependence and clinical depression in pregnancy

The Short Form of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered to 54 chemically dependent pregnant women to assess the extent and depth of depression in the population. The women were divided into three groups by age: Teenagers, young adults, and older adults. Results suggested that this population, as a whole, scored very high on this depression scale. Further, results indicated that the older chemically dependent women scored significantly higher on the depression index than did either of the two younger groups, while the teenagers obtained a mean score comparable to that of the general adolescent population.