• Alinne Z Barrera, Yoon Suh Moh, Alexandra Nichols, and Huynh-Nhu Le.
• Department of Psychology, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, California, USA.
• J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2021 Apr 1; 30 (4): 525-532.

Abstract Background: Pregnant women are at an increased risk for anxiety and depression, but a majority of women go untreated due to a high rate of undetected symptoms. The 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) is an ultrabrief screening instrument for anxiety and depression with sound psychometric properties demonstrated in the general population and primary care, but not among pregnant women. The aim of this study was to provide initial evidence of the validity and reliability of the PHQ-4 among pregnant women. Materials and Methods: Data from an international sample of 1148 pregnant women who participated in an online cross-sectional survey were examined using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multigroup analysis approaches. Average chronological and gestational ages were 27.7 years old (standard deviation [SD] = 6.5) and 16.8 weeks (SD = 10.6), respectively. Participants were from diverse cultural backgrounds and English and Spanish speaking (n = 587 and n = 561, respectively). Results: CFA reflected two distinct factors, which accounted for 59% of the proportion of variance in the two anxiety items and 50% in the two depression items. Coefficient H values of 0.74 for anxiety and 0.70 for depression suggested good factor reliability. Conclusions: This is the first study demonstrating initial evidence supporting the validity and reliability of the PHQ-4 in pregnant women. Should this study be replicated, a clinical interview, which is the gold standard procedure, should be included. Regardless, the PHQ-4 may be a useful ultrabrief resource for maternal mental health clinicians and health care providers who need to identify potential cases of anxiety and depression in pregnant women using efficient and evidence-based tools.

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