Summary
We investigated the contribution of anxiety symptoms to scores on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) between 36 weeks gestation and 16 weeks postpartum in 150 women. The 3-item anxiety subscale of the EPDS accounted for 47% of the total score in late pregnancy, and 38% of the total score in the postpartum period. Two categories of anxiety were common in the perinatal period: subsyndromal, situational anxiety (in particular during the last weeks of pregnancy); and clinically significant comorbid anxiety, which was experienced by nearly 50% of clinically depressed pregnant and postpartum women. The close relationship between anxiety and depression raises questions about whether symptoms of anxiety might be more common in the perinatal period than in other depressions. A strong role for anxiety symptoms in postpartum depression, and implications for its etiology and treatment, are discussed.
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Received June 26, 2002; accepted November 12, 2002 Published online January 17, 2003
Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the women and their families who participated in this research. This work was funded in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Women's College Hospital Foundation, the Ontario Women's Health Council, and the North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. L.E. Ross is now Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario; and Research Scientist, Women's Mental Health and Addiction Research Section, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario.
Correspondence: Lori E. Ross, Ph.D., Women's Health Concerns Clinic, St. Joseph's Healthcare, Fontbonne Building, 6th Floor, 50 Charlton Ave. E., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 4A6. e-mail: l.ross@utoronto.ca
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Ross, L., Evans, S., Sellers, E. et al. Measurement issues in postpartum depression part 1: Anxiety as a feature of postpartum depression. Arch Womens Ment Health 6, 51–57 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-002-0155-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-002-0155-1