Development and Validation of the Japanese Version of EPDS-P for Indirect Screening of Paternal Perinatal Depression Based on Maternal Reporting: Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Observational Study

Aims: The main purpose of this study is to develop an indirect screening system for paternal perinatal depression based on the female partner's assessment in the Japanese population. The Japanese version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale-Partner (EPDS-P) will be used as the indirect screening tool, and its accuracy will be studied in this longitudinal prospective observational study.

Methods: Public health nurses and midwives at the participating community health center are currently inviting couples to participate, and are distributing self-rating scales to the participants. The primary evaluation scales being used in this study are the Japanese versions of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Japanese version of the EPDS-P which evaluates paternal perinatal depression by women. We will evaluate EPDS-P performance against CES-D, including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and correlations.

Results And Conclusions: Perinatal depression is a mental illness that occurs between pregnancy and postpartum within the 12 months, and it is known to increase the risk of adversely impacting on child development. Men may also experience a psychosocial crisis during their partners' perinatal period. Although it was recently reported that the EPDS-P can indirectly detect paternal perinatal depression, there is, as yet, insufficient evidence of this because the previous studies had relatively small sample sizes and were limited to cross-sectional studies in the postpartum period. The development of a screening system for paternal perinatal depression using the EPDS-P will lead to increased awareness of the disease and provide an opportunity to establish a family-based support system in Japan.