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Purpose: Perinatal health outcomes for Hispanic women are associated with acculturation. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between acculturation levels and postpartum depressive symptomatology and diagnosed postpartum depression among Hispanic subgroups., Study Design and Methods: The Postpartum Depression Screening Scale and the Short Acculturation Scale were used in the two phases of data collection. Phase 1 and 2 samples consisted of 377 and 150 Hispanic mothers, respectively. Puerto Rican mothers showed higher levels of acculturation than Mexican and other Hispanic women. A DSM-IV diagnostic interview (SCID) was used to establish a diagnosis of depression. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to study the unique relationships between ethnicity, depressive symptomatology, diagnosed depression, and acculturation., Results: There was no consistent relationship between acculturation and postpartum depression. Significant predictors of elevated postpartum depressive symptoms in Hispanic mothers were Puerto Rican ethnicity and cesarean delivery. Single marital status was a significant risk factor for postpartum depression. A limitation of the study was use of language as the sole criterion measure for acculturation. Acculturation is a complex construct with problematic measurement that needs greater refinement to facilitate research in which it is used as a variable., Clinical Implications: Hispanic mothers are a heterogeneous group and should not be treated as a homogeneous group. Subgroups of Hispanic mothers may not have the same level of acculturation or the same level of postpartum depressive symptomatology.

Background: Postpartum depression is a global phenomenon., Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate the Spanish version of the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS)., Methods: Eight translators representing the predominant Hispanic groups in the United States translated the PDSS into a Spanish version. A total of 377 Hispanic mothers completed the PDSS-Spanish Version within 12 weeks postpartum at two sites: Connecticut and Texas. Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory analysis were conducted to assess construct validity., Results: For the total sample of 377 Hispanic women, the alpha reliability for the total PDSS was.95; dimension-level alphas ranged from.76 to.90. The total PDSS alphas by group were as follows: .94 (Mexican), .96 (Puerto Rican), and .93 (Other). Confirmatory factor analysis provided empirical support for the existence of the hypothesized constructs assessed by the PDSS. Item response theory analysis supported the adequacy of the construct definitions and confirmed that the response options for the Likert categories were an "ordered" attitude continuum in which higher responses corresponded to higher levels of "agreement" with the depressive symptomatology items., Conclusions: When compared to the original English PDSS, the reliability and validity psychometrics for the Spanish version were slightly lower, but still within the acceptable range.