An exploration of postpartum depression model using LISREL

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the postpartum depression model fits the data. A total of 129 Chinese women at 6 weeks postpartum were recruited to participate in this study from the Kaohsiung City area, Taiwan, Republic of China. Five instruments were used to collect data: the Demographic Data Form, the Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, the Cohen's Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, the Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory. In testing the postpartum depression model, tests of covariance structures for type of delivery (vaginal delivery vs. Cesarean delivery) by LISREL (LInear Structural RELations) indicated that covariance matrices for the two groups were significantly different. Therefore, multi-sample LISREL analysis was used to analyze data from the two groups simultaneously and it demonstrated that the basic model of the two groups fit the data well. In all, 54% of variance in postpartum depression for the vaginal delivery group and 44% of variance in postpartum depression for the Cesarean delivery group was explained.