Prediction of post-partum depression and anxiety based on clinical interviews and symptom self-reports of depression and anxiety during pregnancy

Abstract

Introduction The tools used to evaluate mental health during pregnancy matter. Their efficacy in identifying symptom severity enables better predictions of postpartum mental health. The Mother & Youth: Research on Neurodevelopment & behaviour (MYRNA) cohort is an NIH funded longitudinal cohort from Sherbrooke, Canada studying the effects of pregnant women’s mental health. Objectives We examine which mental health tools will better gauge depression and anxiety during pregnancy based on predicting postpartum outcomes. Our hypothesis is that an approach combining a clinical interview with self-report questionnaires may predict mental health in postpartum women. Methods Participants’ mental health is evaluated by the SCID-5-RV, a lifetime interview administered at 30 weeks and monthly questionnaires including PHQ-9 and GAD-7. Participants are in the depression/anxiety group if they either pass all the criteria in the SCID during pregnancy or have an average PHQ-9 or GAD-7 score greater than 7. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) are the outcome variables. Results PHQ-9 was correlated with EPDS, r(220)= .38, p< .01, and GAD-7 was correlated with PSS, r(213)= .56, p< .01. SCID results only had a significant effect on PSS, F(3,220)= 3.77, p= .01 and not with EPDS, F(3,219)= 1.08, p= .36. When the self-report measures and interview were combined significant effects were seen for both the EPDS, F(1,222)= 18.71, p< .01 and the PSS, F(1,223)= 34.94, p<.01. Conclusions Preliminary results show significant associations between measures administered during pregnancy and postpartum measures. Prediction models based on classification will be analyzed once more data is collected. Disclosure No significant relationships.

Keywords

• Depression
• Psychometric measures
• Anxiety
• Postpartum