Confirmatory factor analysis of the perinatal depression screening scale-24

Introduction Pereira et al. (2013) adapted to the antenatal period and validated a shorter version of the original 35-items Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS [1] ), composed of 24 items, selected from the exploratory factor analysis matrix. In their study, the researchers considered this version a useful alternative to evaluate depressive symptoms in pregnancy, taking into account its reliability, concurrent validity and satisfactory combinations of sensitivity and specificity to screen for antenatal depression. Aim To confirm the four dimensions’ structure of the PDSS-24 using confirmatory factor analysis. Methods 616 women (mean age: 32.29 ± 4.466) in the second trimester of pregnancy (mean weeks of gestation = 17.13 ± 4.929), with uncomplicated pregnancies, completed the PDSS-24 while waiting for their routine prenatal consultation at local health medical centers. Results The 4-dimensional model of PDSS-24 presented good fit (χ 2 [242]  = 893,275; RMSEA = 0.067, CFI = 0.934, TLI = 0.94, PGFI = 0.717; P Conclusion This further validation study emphasizes that PDSS-24 in an adequate measure of antenatal depressive symptoms. To better distinguish it from the version to use in the postpartum (PDSS-21 [2] ), from now on, we will denominate it perinatal depression screening scale-24.