A longitudinal study of women's depression symptom profiles during and after the postpartum phase.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:An issue of critical importance for psychiatry and women's health is whether postpartum depression (PPD) represents a unique condition. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders asserts that major depressive disorder (MDD) may present with peripartum onset, without suggesting any other differences between MDD and PPD. The absence of any distinct features calls into question the nosologic validity of PPD as a diagnostic category. The present study investigates whether symptom profiles differ between PPD and depression occurring outside the postpartum phase. METHODS:In a prospective, longitudinal study of parturient women (N = 239), we examine the manifestation of depression symptoms. We assess factor structure of symptom profiles, and whether factors are different

SUBMITTER: Fox M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5889323 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature