Mental health profiles of women at high-risk for postpartum depression: a latent profile analysis

Understanding the heterogeneity of risk to Postpartum Depression (PPD) is of clinical and public health relevance, bearing in mind that symptom patterns are core therapeutic targets. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) ascertain mental health symptom profiles in women at high-risk for PPD, and (2) determine group differences in symptom configuration by cognitive-interpersonal variables. The sample for this study included 1013 postpartum women, who were identified as being at high-risk for PPD during the first three to four months postpartum. A Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was performed to determine the number of mental health profiles. Significant mean differences on covariates across profiles were also tested, using the BCH approach. Results from the LPA revealed three profiles: (1) "Moderate Mental Health" (moderate depression/anxiety, moderate positive mental health); (2) "Good Mental Health" (low psychopathology, high positive mental health); and (3) "Impaired Mental Health" (high depression/anxiety, low positive mental health). These three profiles differed significantly by levels of emotion regulation, psychological flexibility, maternal self-efficacy, and partner relationship satisfaction. Altogether, these findings provide crucial evidence for three heterogeneous patterns of mental health symptoms in women at high-risk for PPD. This clinical variability stresses the relevance of taking symptom constellations into account for personalized prevention and treatment.