Psychometric properties of the Postpartum Depression Literacy Scale (PoDLiS) among Chinese perinatal women: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present work was to cross-culturally adapt the Postpartum Depression Literacy Scale (PoDLiS) and use a descriptive cross-sectional design to evaluate its psychometric properties in Chinese perinatal women. METHODS: Brislin’s translation theory was applied to translate the PoDLiS, with subsequent cultural adaptation. The reliability and validity of the PoDLiS were determined using a questionnaire in 635 Chinese perinatal women. RESULTS: Good internal consistency was found (omega coefficient, 0.894) for the Chinese version of the Postpartum Depression Literacy Scale (PoDLiS-C), with omega coefficients of the six dimensions of 0.865, 0.870, 0.838, 0.777, 0.837 and 0.794, and a test–retest reliability coefficient of 0.874. The item-level content validity index (CVI) ranged from 0.8 to 1 while the scale-level CVI was 0.968. Moreover, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) determined satisfactory construct validity of the PoDLiS-C, with the six-factor model explaining 60.76% of the total variance, demonstrating good model fit (likelihood ratio χ(2)/df, 1.003; goodness-of-fit index, 0.916; adjusted goodness-of-fit index, 0.901; comparative fit index, 0.999; incremental fit index, 0.999; root mean square error of approximation, 0.003; and standardized root mean square error of approximation, 0.0478). CONCLUSIONS: The PoDLiS-C has adequate psychometric properties. This tool could be used to assess the postpartum depression literacy of perinatal women in Chinese-speaking populations.