Cultural adaptation of the postpartum depression literacy scale: A pilot study

Objectives: Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most prevalent mental disorder that affects women following childbirth, yet its diagnosis and treatment are limited because of poor maternal mental health literacy. The Postpartum depression literacy can be assessed using a validated and reliable Postpartum depression literacy scale (PoDLiS) specific to different geographical and cultural contexts. Hence, this study aims to culturally adapt Postpartum depression literacy scale to Kannada, a regional language in Karnataka, India and assess its content validity and reliability. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated the content validity and reliability of the PoDLiS-Kannada version (PoDLiS-K) between July and December 2023. Around 30 mothers attending immunization clinics in Urban Primary Health Centers in Bengaluru, Karnataka, were contacted for assessing reliability. Content validity was assessed among 5 experts. Internal consistency and content validity were evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha and content validity index (CVI), respectively. Results: The final version of PoDLiS-K accepted all the 31 items, with only item 14 being reverse coded. The PoDLiS-K had good reliability, with a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.85 and individual domain scores ranging from 0.64 to 0.89. The overall average CVI was 0.94, with domain-specific CVI values ranging between 0.80 and 1.00, demonstrating satisfactory content validity. Conclusion: This study is the first exploration to culturally adapt, translate, and validate PoDLiS to a vernacular language within the Indian context. It attempted to culturally adapt the PoDLiS to Kannada and also established good reliability and excellent validity, proving it to be a reliable tool for assessing PPD literacy among mothers within the Indian context.