PHQ-8 minor depression among pregnant women: association with somatic symptoms of depression.

It was recently reported that pregnant women were more likely to have minor depression as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 depression scale (PHQ-8), (as reported by Kroenke and Spitzer (Psychiatr Ann 32(9):1-7, 2002), and Kroenke et al. (J Affect 114(1-3):163-173, 2009)) compared to women who were not pregnant (as reported by Ashley et al. (Arch Womens Ment Health 19(2):395-400, 2015)). The present study is designed to investigate if somatic symptoms (energy level, appetite, sleep) associated with both pregnancy and depression were responsible for this increased prevalence of minor depression. A sample of pregnant women (n = 404) was compared to women who were not pregnant (n = 6754). Both groups scored within the minor depression range on the PHQ-8 and comparisons were based on participants' responses to PHQ-8 items. Results indicate that of the somatic symptoms of depression, only changes in energy level accounted for the elevated prevalence of minor depression among pregnant women compared to women who are not pregnant. Removing the decreased energy item from the score determination reduces the prevalence of minor depression among pregnant women to a level significantly below that of women who are not pregnant. Emotional symptoms such as feeling down and feeling like a failure were less likely to be reported by pregnant women compared to women who were not pregnant. Implications for depression screening during pregnancy are discussed.

Estimated prevalence of antenatal depression in the US population.

The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of minor and major depression among pregnant women in the USA. Also, we compare prevalence of depression among pregnant and non-pregnant women while controlling for relevant covariates. A population-representative sample of pregnant women (n = 3010) surveyed for the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System was compared to a sample of women who were not pregnant (n = 68,620). Binary logistic regression was used to determine prevalence ratios of depression for pregnant and non-pregnant women while controlling for the effects of age, race, annual income, employment status, educational level, marital status, general health, and availability of emotional support. Depression was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8). The prevalence of major depression was no greater among pregnant women (6.1%) compared to non-pregnant women (7%; adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) .8 and 1.5). The prevalence of minor depression was greater among pregnant women (16.6%) compared to non-pregnant women (11.4%; adjusted PR = 1.5, 95% CI 1.2 and 1.9). Prevalence ratios are adjusted for the effects of covariates noted above. Prevalence of major depression is not associated with pregnancy, but minor depression is more likely among women who are pregnant.

Hemispheric resource availability influences face perception: a multiple resource approach to social perception.

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that social perception recruits distinct limited-capacity processing resources that are distinguished by the cerebral hemispheres. To test this hypothesis, social perception efficiency was assessed after relevant hemispheric processing resources were depleted. In Experiment 1 prime faces were unilaterally presented for 30 ms, after which centrally presented target faces were categorised by sex. In Experiment 2 prime faces were unilaterally presented for 80 ms after which centrally presented target faces were categorised by fame. Results showed that sex categorisation was slower after primes were presented in the right versus left visual field, and that fame categorisation was slower after familiar primes were presented in the left versus right visual field. The results support a multiple resource account of social perception in which the availability of resources distributed across the cerebral hemispheres influences social perception.

Resource Dependent Effects During Sex Categorization.

The limited capacity of face perception resources in the left cerebral hemisphere was examined using a sex categorization task. One study tested the hypothesis that sex categorization is impeded whenever feature extraction resources in the left hemisphere are simultaneously being utilized by another task. This hypothesis was tested by presenting prime faces for either 32 ms or 320 ms to either the left or right visual-field just before centrally presented target faces were categorized by sex. Results showed that sex categorization was slower after prime faces were presented for 32 ms in the right visual-field compared to the left visual-field. This difference was not found after the 320 ms prime length. The results are interpreted in the context of a neurocognitive model of social perception and suggest that efficient sex categorization depends, in part, on the availability of facial feature extraction resources in the left hemisphere.

Neurocognitive underpinnings of face perception: further evidence of distinct person and group perception processes.

A model of social perception is presented and tested. The model is based on cognitive neuroscience models and proposes that the right cerebral hemisphere is more efficient at processing combinations of features whereas the left hemisphere is superior at identifying single features. These processes are hypothesized to produce person and group-based representations, respectively. Individuating or personalizing experience with an outgroup member was expected to facilitate the perception of the individuating features and inhibit the perception of the group features. In the presented study, participants were asked to learn about various ingroup and outgroup targets. Later, participants demonstrated that categorization response speeds to old targets were slower in the left hemisphere than in the right, particularly for outgroup members, as predicted. These findings are discussed for their relevance to models of social perception and stereotyping.