Therefore, the observation and analysis of these features have led researchers to wonder about the existence of several etiopathogenetic pathways and specific risk factors in relation to different clinical conditions. Perinatal mood disorders include a variety of clinical entities, which differ with regard to the period of onset, the severity of the illness, and psychopathological features. Characteristics of personality have a key role in clinical manifestations of perinatal depression it is important to detect them to identify mothers at risk and to plan targeted therapeutic interventions. The first cluster (39.5%) collects structures of personality with prevalent obsessive or dependent functioning tending to develop a “psychasthenic” depression the third cluster (13.95%) includes women with prevalent borderline functioning tending to develop “dysphoric” depression the second cluster (46.5%) shows a normal profile with a “defensive” attitude, probably due to the presence of defense mechanisms or to the fear of stigma. The analysis identified three clusters of personality profile: two “clinical” clusters (1 and 3) and an “apparently common” one (cluster 2). A clinical group of subjects with perinatal depression (PND, 55 subjects) was selected clinical and validity scales of MMPI-2 were used as predictors in hierarchical cluster analysis carried out.
The study started with a screening of a sample of 453 women in their third trimester of pregnancy, to which was administered a survey data form, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2). To assess personality characteristics of women who develop perinatal depression.