Overview

Evaluates symptoms of depressed mood among perinatal women including feelings of anxiousness (including panic) or worry for no good reason, feelings that things have been overwhelming, difficulty sleeping, feeling sad or miserable, as well as thoughts of harming oneself. Procedures should be in place to appropriately manage potential endorsements of suicidal thoughts.

This is used in many contexts and is very similar to the PHQ-9, but is adapted to have fewer somatic items that are correlated with pregnancy and postpartum and thus may not discriminate for depression (e.g., poor appetite/having little energy). This is typically used in the perinatal period (pregnancy through 1 year postpartum).

Scoring and Interpretation

Scores range 0-40 wherein scores > 13 indicate possible depressed mood and scores >=18 indicate probable clinical depression.

Citation

Cox, John L., Jeni M. Holden, and Ruth Sagovsky. 1987. “Detection of Postnatal Depression: Development of the 10-Item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.” British Journal of Psychiatry, 150:6: 782–86.

Contexts and Applications to Child Nutrition

Bangladesh
Nasreen, Hashima-E., Zarina Nahar Kabir, Yvonne Forsell, and Maigun Edhborg. 2013. "Impact of Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Infant Temperament on Early Infant Growth and Motor Development: Results From A Population Based Study in Bangladesh." Journal of affective disorders 146 (2): 254-261.

Sharmin, Kazi Nazira, Nazmul Sarwar, Shirin Jahan Mumu, DR Abu Taleb, and Meerjady Sabrina Flora. 2019. "Postnatal Depression And Infant Growth In An Urban Area of Bangladesh." Midwifery 74: 57-67.

China
Wang, Han, Hong Zhou, Yan Zhang, Yan Wang, and Jing Sun. 2018. "Association of Maternal Depression With Dietary Intake, Growth, and Development of Preterm Infants: A Cohort Study in Beijing, China." Frontiers of Medicine 12(5) 533-541.

Ethiopia
Anato, Anchamo, Kaleab Baye, Zelalem Tafese, and Barbara J. Stoecker. 2020. "Maternal Depression is Associated with Child Undernutrition: A Cross‐Sectional Study in Ethiopia." Maternal & Child Nutrition 16(3): e12934.

Gambia
Nabwera, Helen M., Sophie E. Moore, Martha K. Mwangome, Sassy C. Molyneux, Momodou K. Darboe, Nyima Camara-Trawally, Bakary Sonko et al. 2018. "The Influence of Maternal Psychosocial Circumstances and Physical Environment on the Risk of Severe Wasting in Rural Gambian Infants: A Mixed Methods Approach." BMC Public Health 18(1): 1-19.

India
Amipara, Trupti, Hinal Baria, and Sunil Nayak. 2020. "A Study on Postpartum Depression and its Association with Infant Feeding Practices and Infant Nutritional Status Among Mothers Attending the Anganwadi Centers of Valsad District, Gujarat, India." Indian Journal of Community Medicine: Official Publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine 45, (3): 299.

Joshi, M. N., and A. V. Raut. 2019. "Maternal Depression and its Association with Responsive Feeding and Nutritional Status of Infants: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Rural Medical College in Central India." Journal of Postgraduate Medicine 65(4): 212-218.

Mexico
Vázquez-Vázquez, Adriana, Mary S. Fewtrell, Hidekel Chan-García, Carolina Batún-Marrufo, Federico Dickinson, and Jonathan C. Wells. 2021. "Does Maternal Grandmother's Support Improve Maternal and Child Nutritional Health Outcomes? Evidence from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 376(1827).

Pakistan
Husain, Nusrat, Tayyeba Kiran, Sadia Shah, Atif Rahman, Qamar Saeed, Shehla Naeem, Paul Bassett et al. 2021. "Efficacy of Learning through Play Plus Intervention to Reduce Maternal Depression in Women with Malnourished Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial from Pakistan." Journal of Affective Disorders 278: 78-84.

South Africa
Stansert Katzen, Linnea, Karl W. le Roux, Ellen Almirol, Panteha Hayati Rezvan, Ingrid M. le Roux, Nokwanele Mbewu, Elaine Dippenaar, et al. 2021. "Community Health Worker Home Visiting in Deeply Rural South Africa: 12-month Outcomes." Global Public Health 16(11): 1757-1770.

Le Roux, Karl, Joan Christodoulou, Linnea Stansert-Katzen, Elaine Dippenaar, Christina Laurenzi, Ingrid M. Le Roux, Mark Tomlinson, and Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus. 2019. "A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Rural Adolescent vs Adult South African Mothers and their Children from Birth to 24 months." BMC pregnancy and childbirth 19(1): 1-8.

Tomlinson, M., M. J. Rotheram-Borus, A. Scheffler, and I. le Roux. 2018. “Antenatal Depressed Mood and Child Cognitive and Physical Growth at 18-Months in South Africa: a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial of Home Visiting by Community Health Workers.” Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 27 (6). Cambridge University Press: 601–10.

Tanzania
Holm‐Larsen, Christina Elise, Frederikke Kjerulff Madsen, Jane Januarius Rogathi, Rachel Manongi, Declare Mushi, Dan Wolf Meyrowitsch, Tine Gammeltoft, et al. 2019. "Postpartum Depression and Child Growth in Tanzania: a Cohort Study." BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 126(5): 590-598.

Zimbabwe
Matare, Cynthia R., Mduduzi NN Mbuya, Katherine L. Dickin, Mark A. Constas, Gretel Pelto, Bernard Chasekwa, Jean H. Humphrey, et al. 2021. "Maternal Capabilities are Associated with Child Caregiving Behaviors among Women in Rural Zimbabwe." The Journal of Nutrition. 151(3): 685-694.

Tome, Joice, Mduduzi NN Mbuya, Rachel R. Makasi, Robert Ntozini, Andrew J. Prendergast, Katherine L. Dickin, Gretel H. Pelto et al. 2021. "Maternal Caregiving Capabilities are Associated with Child Linear Growth in Rural Zimbabwe." Maternal & Child Nutrition 17(2): e13122.

Adaptations

Modified items, such as omitted items and/or adapted the wording of questions to be more culturally appropriate.

Formative Research

Cognitive Interviews/Pilot Testing