Social adjustment in childbearing women: The modified Work Leisure and Family Life Questionnaire

Abstract

There is a need for a measure of social adjustment in childbearing women, in a variety of social role areas, that includes adjustment to the baby. The Work Leisure and Family Life Questionnaire (WLFLQ) was modified by limiting the parental role area to older children and adding a new role area which assessed adjustment to the baby alone. The modified WLFLQ was filled in by 50 depressed and 50 non-depressed mothers of infants under one year. The baby role area correlated well with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS), and the original Work Leisure and Family Life Questionnaire (WLFLQ). The modified WLFLQ was sensitive to changes in psychiatric state over time; distinguished between postpartum depressed and non-depressed controls; assessed adjustment to the baby and assessed adjustment to the baby independent of older children. The modified WLFLQ may serve as a useful research tool in studies of social adjustment and as an outcome measure in studies of postnatal depression.