Publisher:
None.

Initial Material Cost:
A copy of the scale can be found at www.clinical-Supervision.com/edinburgh scale.htm

Representativeness of Norming/Research Sample:
No norming sample

Languages:
English

Type of Assessment:
Self-report

Age Range and Administration Interval:
Women of childbearing age

Personnel, Training, Administration, and Scoring Requirements:
Administration time is 10 minutes; Scoring can be done in about 5 minutes.

Summary
Initial Material Cost: 1 (> $100)
Reliability: 1 (none described)
Validity: 3 (.5 or higher)
Norming Sample Characteristics: 1 (none described)
Ease of Administration and Scoring: 2 (self-administered)

Description: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a measurement tool that is used to screen for depression during the postpartum (postnatal) period. Mothers underline the response items that most closely reflect her feelings during the past week.

Uses of Information: The EPDS is designed to detect women suffering from postnatal depression. It does not provide information on the severity of the depression. A respondent whose score is indicative of probable postnatal depression should have a comprehensive assessment.

Reliability: None described.

Validity: (1) Concurrent Validity: a validation study on British mothers found that a 12.5 cutoff score identified over 80 percent of the mothers with major depression and about 50 percent of the mothers with minor depression, and had a sensitivity value of 67.7 percent. Another study found a score of 9.5 or higher to be more appropriate for identifying depression among Chinese mothers.

Method of Scoring: Responses are scored from 0 to 3 according to increased severity of the symptoms. Individual items are totaled to give an overall score.

Interpretability: A score of 12 or more on EPDS or an affirmative answer on question 10 (presence of suicidal thoughts) requires more thorough evaluation.

Training Support: None described, but none seems to be needed.

Adaptations/Special Instructions for Individuals with Disabilities: None described. However, the instrument can quite easily be administered in an interview format, if mental or physical disabilities make it difficult for a respondent to complete the instrument.

Report Preparation Support: None described.

References:

Lee, DTS, and TKH Chung. “What should be done about postnatal depression in Hong Kong?” Hong Kong Medical Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 39-42, March 1999.

Murray, Lynne and Andrew D. Carothers. “The Validation of the Edinburgh Post-natal Depression Scale on a Community Sample.” British Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 157, pp. 288-290, 1990.

Warner, R., Appleby, L., Whitton, A., & Faraghen, B. “Demographic and obstetric risk factors for postnatal psychiatric morbidity.” British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 168, 607-611, 1996.