The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale for Fathers: A contribution to the validation for an Italian sample.
OBJECTIVE
The aims of the study are to contribute to the validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox et al., 1987) on a sample of Italian fathers (both men in the perinatal period than those with grown-up children) and to analyze its factorial structure.


METHODS
Four hundred thirty-six fathers participated; specifically, we used two samples. The first was composed of 334 fathers, 39 of which were depressed new fathers. We conducted explorative factor analysis and receiver operator characteristic analysis. The second sample was composed of 102 fathers, 22 of which were depressed new fathers. We conducted confirmative factor analysis on this second sample. We administered the Italian version of the EPDS (Carpiniello et al., 1997; Benvenuti et al., 1999), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Ghisi et al., 2006) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (Fava, 1983).


RESULTS
The test seems to detect not depression but a state of distress including depressive symptoms, anxiety and unhappiness. Results showed a two-factor structure, different from that of mothers. The optimal cutoff for Italian fathers is 12/13.


CONCLUSIONS
The EPDS is a valid and reliable instrument, useful in the perinatal period for screening fathers at risk for perinatal distress and in need of psychological support.
University of Florence, School of Psychology, Department of Health Sciences, Via di San Salvi 12-Padiglione 26, 50135 Florence, Italy. Electronic address: yura.loscalzo@gmail.com.
Yura
Y
Loscalzo
University of Florence, School of Psychology, Department of Health Sciences, Via di San Salvi 12-Padiglione 26, 50135 Florence, Italy.
Marco
M
Giannini
University of Florence, School of Psychology, Department of Health Sciences, Via di San Salvi 12-Padiglione 26, 50135 Florence, Italy.
Bastianina
B
Contena
University of Florence, School of Psychology, Department of Health Sciences, Via di San Salvi 12-Padiglione 26, 50135 Florence, Italy.
Alessio
A
Gori
University of Florence, School of Psychology, Department of Health Sciences, Via di San Salvi 12-Padiglione 26, 50135 Florence, Italy.
Paola
P
Benvenuti
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
Depression; Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; Fathers; Perinatal; Validation