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Using the Internet to Screen for Postpartum Depression

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Abstract

Objective To examine the feasibility of using the Internet to screen for postpartum depressive symptoms. Methods A total of 142 participants completed the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale on the Internet, and these findings were compared with those administered in-person by the authors of the PDSS (Beck and Gable) in recruitment sources, demographic characteristics, psychometric properties, and prevalence of significant postpartum depressive symptoms. Results Participants were more likely to be recruited through Internet websites than mailing sources in the Internet study, and participants in the in-person study were recruited through prenatal childbirth classes. A higher proportion of Hispanic and Asian women participated on the Internet compared to the in-person study. The PDSS had excellent internal consistencies and construct validity across Internet and in-person studies. The Internet sample also reported more risk for major postpartum depression (PPD) compared to the community sample (23% vs. 12%). Conclusions The Internet is a viable and feasible tool to screen for PPD. Implications for preventing and treating PPD on the Internet are discussed.

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Notes

  1. A z-test was conducted to compare binomial proportions on selected variables between the Internet and in-person samples because we did not have the raw data from the Beck and Gable study [26].

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants in part from the Luther Rice Fellowship at George Washington University and the Health Resources and Services Administration/Maternal Child Health Bureau (R40 MC 02497). The authors thank Melissa Davis for the initial collaboration and data collection, and Leah Matherne and Ruth Craig for their assistance in data management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, 2125 G St., NW, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Huynh-Nhu Le

  2. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Deborah F. Perry

  3. The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Xi Sheng

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  1. Huynh-Nhu Le
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Correspondence to Huynh-Nhu Le.

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Le, HN., Perry, D.F. & Sheng, X. Using the Internet to Screen for Postpartum Depression. Matern Child Health J 13, 213–221 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-008-0322-8

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