The Vulnerable Personality Style Questionnaire: psychometric properties in Spanish postpartum women

The Vulnerable Personality Style Questionnaire (VPSQ) is a nine-item self-report scale developed to asses personality traits
which increase the risk of postpartum depression. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties
of the Spanish version of the VPSQ in a sample of postpartum women. A cohort of 309 postpartum women was followed up for 32 weeks
after delivery. All women were assessed with the Spanish version of the VPSQ, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-R Short
Scale, the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and the harm avoidance dimension of the Temperament and Character Inventory
at 2–3 days postpartum. Depressive symptoms were evaluated at 8 and 32 weeks after delivery by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression
Scale, and a diagnostic interview was used to confirm the presence of major depression disorder. Factor analysis results revealed
the unidimensionality of the Spanish version of the VPSQ. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the VPSQ total score was 0.63.
The test–retest reliability indicated a good temporal stability (ICC = 0.88; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.82–0.91). A
moderate association between the VPSQ and other personality measures provided evidence for its construct validity. Logistic
regression analyses showed that women with higher scores on the VPSQ had a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms (OR = 1.20;
95% CI = 1.11–1.29) and major depression (OR = 1.16; 95% CI = 1.07–1.26) throughout the 32 weeks after delivery. Overall,
our results suggest adequate psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the VPSQ and its usefulness in identifying
women with a personality style that increases the risk of developing postpartum depression.