Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)
Psychology: Mental HealthReliability: alpha 0.873 sample items
About this scale
A 10-item self-report screener for postnatal depression in mothers, with a recommended cutoff of 12/13. Widely used in maternity-leave and family-policy research.
Sample item(s)
“I have been able to laugh and see the funny side of things (reverse)”
“I have looked forward with enjoyment to things (reverse)”
“I have blamed myself unnecessarily when things went wrong”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.87. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Free for academic use; used in HRM research on maternity-leave outcomes.
Source & citation
Cox, J. L., Holden, J. M., & Sagovsky, R. (1987): Detection of postnatal depression: Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 150, No. 6, pp. 782–786.
Cox, Holden & Sagovsky (1987): EPDS. BJPsych, 150(6), 782–786.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
Use it in your research
Need to check the reliability or psychometrics of this scale in your own data? Use the free DrAIStudio research tools:
Cronbach’s alpha calculator
All statistical calculators
Search the full Scale Atlas
Academic writing humanizer