Demographic characteristics of participants in studies of risk factors, prevention, and treatment of postpartum depression.
OBJECTIVE
Metaanalyses have found that sociodemographic variables are not strong predictors of postpartum depression. However, no studies have systematically examined the extent to which the samples used in published research on postpartum depression have included sufficiently diverse samples of women to merit this conclusion. The objectives o this study were to examine the demographic characteristics of participants in previously published studies and to document existing gaps in the current literature.


METHODS
We extracted age, ethnicity, relationship status, and socioeconomic status of 51 453 participants from 143 studies previously selected for systematic literature reviews.


RESULTS
Few studies reported complete demographic data; however, existing data indicate that participants were predominantly aged 25 to 35 years, white, partnered, and of mid- or high-socioeconomic status.


CONCLUSIONS
To assess the external validity of the findings, improved reporting of demographic characteristics is required in publications related to postpartum depression. Additional research is needed to understand postpartum depression among understudied populations.
Ross
Lori E
LE
Women's Mental Health and Addiction Research Section, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario. l.ross@utoronto.ca
Campbell
Vashti L S
VL
Dennis
Cindy-Lee
CL
Blackmore
Emma Robertson
ER
D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D019049:Developed Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D017533:Marital Status; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors