OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the rate of depressive symptomatology and possible underlying factors in adoptive mothers during the transition to motherhood. DESIGN: Cohort survey. SETTING: General Community. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-nine adoptive mothers of reproductive age registered with international adoption agencies. INTERVENTIONS: All women completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) before and 6 weeks after the adoption. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Responses were compared between the study group and published findings for biological mothers in the general population, and within the study group, before and after adoption. RESULTS: Symptoms of depression were found in 15.4% of the study group. This rate was similar to that for postpartum depression in the general population, and lower than the rate recorded in the study group before adoption (25.6%). All women with symptoms of depression after the adoption had also shown evidence of depressive features before the adoption. Similar findings were noted for other psychopathologies as well. CONCLUSION: Adopting a child does not cause new-onset, reactive depression among adoptive mothers. It may even lead to a decrease in depressive features, perhaps in response to relief from other adjustment difficulties.
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