Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2-2018
Abstract
Background
An issue of critical importance for psychiatry and women's health is whether postpartum depression (PPD) represents a unique condition. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders asserts that major depressive disorder (MDD) may present with peripartum onset, without suggesting any other differences between MDD and PPD. The absence of any distinct features calls into question the nosologic validity of PPD as a diagnostic category. The present study investigates whether symptom profiles differ between PPD and depression occurring outside the postpartum phase.
Methods
In a prospective, longitudinal study of parturient women (N = 239), we examine the manifestation of depression symptoms. We assess factor structure of symptom profiles, and whether factors are differentially pronounced during and after the postpartum period.
Results
Factors were revealed representing: Worry, Emotional/Circadian/Energetic Dysregulation, Somatic/Cognitive, Appetite, Distress Display, and Anger symptoms. The factor structure was validated at postpartum and after‐postpartum timepoints. Interestingly, the Worry factor, comprising anxiety and guilt, was significantly more pronounced during the postpartum timepoint, and the Emotional/Circadian/Energetic Dysregulation factor, which contained sadness and anhedonia, was significantly less pronounced during the postpartum period.
Conclusions
These results suggest that PPD may be a unique syndrome, necessitating research, diagnosis, and treatment strategies distinct from those for MDD. Results indicate the possibility that Worry is an enhanced feature of PPD compared to depression outside the postpartum period, and the crucial role of sadness/anhedonia in MDD diagnosis may be less applicable to PPD diagnosis.
Recommended Citation
Fox, M., Sandman, C. A., Davis, E. P., & Glynn L, M. (2018). A longitudinal study of women's depression symptom profiles during and after the postpartum phase. Depression & Anxiety, 35(4), 1–14. doi: 10.1002/da.22719
Copyright
Wiley
Comments
This is the accepted version of the following article:
Fox, M., Sandman, C. A., Davis, E. P., & Glynn L, M. (2018). A longitudinal study of women's depression symptom profiles during and after the postpartum phase. Depression & Anxiety, 35(4), 1–14.
which has been published in final form at DOI: 10.1002/da.22719. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.