A new measurement tool, the Emotional Processing Scale (EPS), developed by researchers at Bournemouth University may help professionals to identify pregnant women who are particularly at risk of postnatal depression.

That is the conclusion of research being presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Clinical Psychology today by Dr Carol Wilkins from Bournemouth University.

Together with Professor  Roger Baker, Professor of Clinical psychology at Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit, and other colleagues Dr Wilkins asked 974 women, aged 16 to 44, recruited from antenatal clinics in Southern England to complete a number of psychological tests, including the EPS, developed by  Professor Baker. The women were surveyed at 13 and 34 weeks gestation and 6 weeks after their child was born.

When the results were analysed significant associations were found between poor emotional processing and likelihood of developing postnatal depression. After adjusting for other established risk factors for depression, poor emotional processing in early and late pregnancy made a statistically significant contribution to the prediction of postnatal depression.

The odds of women with high scores on the EPSat both time points developing depression postpartum were 2.5 and 3.4 times greater respectively than women with low EPS scores.

Emotional processing describes the way people manage their emotions when faced with stressful events in their lives.  When emotions are not managed appropriately people can encounter difficulties coping with everyday life. 

Dr Carol Wilkins said:

“This is the first time the EPS has been used with a large UK perinatal population. It could provide a valuable tool to identify poor emotional processing among antenatal women and help psychologists and midwives to develop strategies to support women more vulnerable to the detrimental impact of emotional and psychological disturbances, and also support their infants and families.”