Part II — Incremental Predictive Value of Heart Rate Variability for Postpartum Depression and Anxiety: A Continuing Scientific Investigation

Part II of a continuing documentary and numerical research audit of the reported incremental predictive contribution of pregnancy heart rate variability (HRV) in the 3PAD study. This report directly continues Part I, dated 30 October 2026. It preserves the same overarching research question and audit framework. It is not a separate independent project and does not represent the final conclusion of the ongoing investigation. The report examines the published incremental predictive findings for postpartum depressive symptoms, state anxiety, and trait anxiety. It continues the numerical reconciliation of Supplementary Tables 9a and 9b and evaluates the reported missing-data and imputation procedures, Random Forest methodology, internal-validation information, doctoral dissertation context, identified research repositories, relevant external literature, and requirements for independent reproduction. The published pooled mean absolute error (MAE) results indicate modest improvements for postpartum depressive symptoms (-0.059; 95% CI: -0.115 to -0.003) and state anxiety (-0.104; 95% CI: -0.194 to -0.014). The corresponding trait-anxiety confidence interval (-0.157 to 0.053) includes zero. All reported R-squared confidence intervals also include zero. The numerical reconciliation identifies seven of twelve comparisons between the differences implied by Supplementary Table 9a and the pooled differences reported in Table 9b that exceed the approximate displayed-rounding tolerance of 0.0105. These discrepancies remain unresolved. They do not, by themselves, establish a statistical error, methodological defect, data fabrication, or misconduct. This work is a documentary and numerical audit based on published summary statistics and documentary sources. It does not analyse participant-level data and does not independently refit the original Random Forest models. Overall assessment: PARTIALLY SUPPORTED. The available evidence supports a modest incremental MAE benefit for depression and state anxiety within the reported analysis. Independent reproduction, independent external validation, and clinical utility remain not established. This report has not been peer reviewed. The investigation remains ongoing, and further numbered parts may document additional evidence, methodological information, and analytical findings. Part II is not the final conclusion of the complete research project.