title: Screening for Depression in the Postpartum using the Beck Depression Inventory-II: What Logistic Regression Reveals.
abstract: To identify items on the BDI-II that best discriminate between clinically depressed and nondepressed postpartum women.
  
  
  
  Postpartum depression is a serious and widespread health burden, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) is commonly used to detect depression in the postpartum. Yet certain depressive symptoms are "normative" sequelae of childbirth, calling into question the discriminative utility of the BDI-II.
  
  
  
  We examined the prospective contribution of BDI-II items to identify items that have the strongest relation with clinical postpartum depression. Women with BDI-II scores >12 were invited to participate in a structured clinical interview. A logistic regression was conducted to determine which BDI-II items discriminated between women who were later diagnosed as Depressed (n= 75) and Nondepressed (n= 78).
  
  
  
  Of the 11 BDI-II items that differed between the two groups, eight represented cognitive/affective symptoms. Results from the logistic regression indicated that four BDI-II symptoms were significant predictors of Depression status: sadness, pessimism, loss of interest, and changes in appetite.
  
  
  
  The BDI-II should be used in the postpartum with caution. Professionals who screen for postpartum depression should pay particular attention to cognitive/affective symptoms, as they appear more robust to normative physical and emotional changes that occur in the postpartum.
authors.affiliation: ;
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Conradt
authors.forename: Nanmathi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Manian
authors.forename: Marc H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bornstein
keywords: Beck Depression Inventory-II; Postpartum Depression; screening