Depression During Pregnancy Risk Scale: elaboration of a theoretical model*

Abstract

This study aim is to propose a theoretical model on the construct risk of depression during pregnancy as an initial part of the process of building and validating the Depression during Pregnancy Risk Scale. This is a theoretical study based on the methodology recommended by Pasquali, which establishes four steps for the elaboration of the theoretical model: psychological system, property of the psychological system, dimensionality, definition of the construct. In the first step, the psychological object was defined as “risk of depression during pregnancy”. Thereafter, “depression during pregnancy” was defined as the property of the psychological system. In the third step, dimensionality was established through the antecedents and consequences of depression during pregnancy, understood as its risk factors and consequences, respectively. In the fourth step, the constitutive and operational definition of the construct risk of depression during pregnancy was established. The elaboration of the theoretical model advanced when it addressed the risk of depression during pregnancy as a process that articulates several concepts in which antecedents and consequences promoting repercussions on the health of the pregnant woman are inserted; and it contributed to the development of an original scale.