A partner-rating scale of postpartum depression: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale-Partner (EPDS-P)

Partners could be useful as informants of postpartum women's depressive symptoms; however, currently no partner-ratings exist. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale - Partner (EPDS-P) is a 10-item measure adapted from the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The EPDS-P is expected to converge with the EPDS and other measures of depressive symptoms and to demonstrate incremental validity in the prediction of depressive symptoms. 101 women and their partners completed multiple measures of depressive symptoms during the first six weeks postpartum. Initial results suggest adequate reliability and validity for the EPDS-P. The EPDS-P showed moderate convergent correlations with other depression measures. Longitudinal correlations showed a link between the two-week EPDS-P and the six-week EPDS. The EPDS-P demonstrated incremental validity over and above the EPDS. Results supported the use of the EPDS-P as a valid partner-rating scale. The findings confirm that partners of postpartum women are valuable resources when assessing depressive symptoms.