Cultural differences in perinatal experiences for women with low socioeconomic status.

In this study, similarities and differences in perinatal experiences between women with low socioeconomic status (SES) by race, ethnicity, and nativity were explored. The objective was to better understand the sociocultural and environmental contexts ofperinatal experiences and potential implications for screening and assessment among women with low SES. A purposive stratified sample of 32 women who were likely to be screened for perinatal depression participated in four focus groups organized by African American, white, Hmong, or Latina race or ethnicity. A descriptive study design was used to collect and evaluate focus-group data using qualitative content analysis. Women understood their perinatal experiences through the stressors in their environment. The stressors of insufficient socioeconomic resources and interpersonal support were relatively consistent across the focus groups. However, women's understanding of these stressors and their meaning differed between groups. Racially and ethnically diverse women with low SES experienced a complex interaction of sociocultural and environmental factors in the perinatal period. The findings highlight the need for health and social work practitioners to conduct depression screenings in conjunction with a com- prehensive psychosocial assessment, informed by cultural competence.

Replicability of structural models of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in a community sample of postpartum African American women with low socioeconomic status.

The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is increasingly used in public health and social service programs serving postpartum women of racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds at risk for depression. However, we know little about its factor structure across groups of women with implications for measuring symptom levels in research. This study evaluated the underlying structure of the EPDS using a confirmatory factor analyses model comparison approach of five factor models from the literature in a purposive community sample of 169 postpartum African American women of low socioeconomic status. Participants were identified through an exhaustive review of local health department program files dated August 2006 to August 2010 in a Midwestern state of USA. Tuohy and McVey's (Br JClin Psychol 47:153­169, 2008) three-factor model (depression, anxiety, and anhedonia) demonstrated the best fit to the data with a nonsignificant Satora­Bentler scaled chi-square value (21.70, df024, p00.60) and the lowest root mean square error of approximation (0.00) and standardized root mean square residual (0.05) values. The results call for further study of the factor structure of the EPDS in other racial and ethnic groups and cautious use of the EPDS among perinatal women of racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds until its factorial invariance is better understood.