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Abstract
The Antepartum Depression Scale (ADS) is an innovative tool designed to comprehensively assess the psychological states of pregnant women, specifically targeting depression, melancholy, anxiety, and self-dysthymia. Unlike the existing scales, ADS integrates a multidimensional approach tailored to the unique psychological profile of pregnancy. Additionally, its adaptability to telemedicine ensures accessibility to psychological assessments via digital platforms, addressing the growing need for remote mental health care. Despite the critical importance of maternal mental health, there remains a gap in standardised pregnancy-specific depression assessments that are both clinically robust and telemedicine-compatible. The ADS was rigorously developed and validated to ensure its accuracy and reliability, making it a critical tool for the early detection and management of antepartum depression, even in resource-limited settings. Methods: A total of 850 pregnant women participated in the ADS validation study, with 650 completing a test-retest reliability analysis over a 14-day interval. The diverse Romanian sample ensured the demographic variability. Additionally, 200 participants completed the ADS along with Beck’s Depression Inventory, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale to assess construct validity. Psychometric properties were evaluated using internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and factor analysis. Results: The ADS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.897), strong validity (The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin=0.876), and robust correlations with the established scales. Notably, the mean depression scores increased significantly between tests, underscoring the scale’s sensitivity to psychological changes during pregnancy. Conclusions: The ADS is a validated multidimensional tool that fills a critical gap in maternal mental health assessment by offering a pregnancy-specific, psychometrically sound instrument. Its applicability in both clinical and telemedicine settings supports early intervention, ultimately enhancing maternal mental health care and improving outcomes for pregnant women.