Psychometric Properties of the Peripartum Depression Predictors Scale

Objective: Postpartum depression, one of the most common childbirth-related complications, affects one in five women, yet half of the cases go unnoticed. Therefore, screening tools are needed to early identify women at risk of postpartum depression. The present research was conducted to develop the Peripartum Depression Predictors Scale (PDPS) and assess its validity and reliability. Methods: This study was designed as methodological research. Pregnant women (n = 482) who underwent prenatal care at a training and research hospital in Türkiye between March and June 2023 participated in the study. The reliability analyses of the scale were performed using Cronbach's alpha and the split-half reliability coefficients. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted for construct validity. Results: The items with total correlation values lower than 0.30 were excluded from the analysis. A five-factor structure consisting of 21 items was obtained through exploratory factor analysis. The explained variance of the scale was determined as 55.785%. According to the results of the first-order multifactor analysis, the goodness of fit indices of the scale indicated a perfect fit (RMSEA = 0.044; χ2(CMIN/DF) = 1.923; GFI = 0.972; AGFI = 0.964). The Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.836 for the entire scale and ranged between 0.603 and 0.825 for the subscales. Conclusion: It was found that the PDPS is a valid and reliable measurement instrument. The scale can be utilized to determine the predictors of peripartum depression during any stage of pregnancy and to identify the risk for postpartum depression.