The Postpartum Partner Support Scale: Development, psychometric assessment, and predictive validity in a Canadian prospective cohort.

BACKGROUND: postpartum depression is a significant public health issue with well-documented negative consequences. A strong risk factor that has been consistently identified in international samples is a poor partner relationship. However, no instrument exists to measure postpartum-specific partner support.

OBJECTIVES: the objective of this methodological study was to develop and psychometrically test an instrument to assess the perception of postpartum partner support to guide interventions.

DESIGN: using a theoretical model of social relationships and the functional elements of social support, the Postpartum Partner Support Scale was developed and content validity was judged by experts. Following a pilot test, the Postpartum Partner Support Scale was psychometrically assessed.

SETTINGS: the study was conducted in a health region near Vancouver, British Columbia.

PARTICIPANTS: 396 women at 1, 4, and 8 weeks postpartum.

METHODS: the psychometric assessment included analysis of internal consistency, exploratory factor analysis, composite reliability, and concurrent and predictive validity.

FINDINGS: the Cronbach's alpha for the Postpartum Partner Support Scale was 0.96, and exploratory factor analysis revealed a unidimensional solution. The Postpartum Partner Support Scale was positively correlated with general partner support and global social support and negatively correlated with perceived stress and child care stress. It also predicted maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms at 8 weeks postpartum among those without depression or anxiety at 1 or 4 weeks postpartum, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: following further psychometric testing, the Postpartum Partner Support Scale may be used to (1) identify women with inadequate partner support who are at risk for poor mental health, (2) individualise postnatal care, and (3) evaluate preventive interventions.