• Tineke Baines, Anja Wittkowski, and Angelika Wieck.
• University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
• Midwifery. 2013 Jul 1; 29 (7): 779-86.

Objectiveto examine perceptions of mothers experiencing postpartum depression utilising the revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R), to explore relationships between illness perceptions, depression severity and perceptions of maternal bonding, and to assess the psychometric properties within this population.Designlongitudinal correlational design.SettingNorth West of England, UK.Participants43 mothers, who screened positive for postpartum depression (mean age 29.36 years) with babies whose mean age was 4 months.Methodsparticipants were recruited through health services. Participants completed the IPQ-R and measures of depression severity and maternal bonding. Illness perceptions and depression severity were assessed at 2 time points, 4 weeks apart.Findingsmothers endorsed IPQ-R subscales of cyclical timeline, consequences, emotional representations, treatment and personal control. IPQ-R subscale scores and depression severity correlated significantly at Time 1. Initial IPQ-R subscale scores, however, were not associated with and accounted for little variation in depression severity at Time 2. IPQ-R identity and consequence subscales positively correlated with perceived bonding difficulties.Key Conclusions And Clinical Implicationsthe IPQ-R was shown to be a reliable measure of illness perceptions in mothers experiencing postpartum depression. The maternal illness perceptions endorsed in this study have implications for clinical practice. Interventions aimed at developing a more coherent understanding of depression may enhance beliefs of personal control over symptoms, reduce the number of perceived symptoms and associated emotional distress. Educating mothers regarding the benefits of interventions may be important in increasing the number of mothers accessing support for postpartum depression.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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