The psychosocial 'diagnosis' of depression in mothers: An exploration and analysis

A high rate of depression amongst mothers in families subject to child and family care social work has been clearly established. Social workers do not , however, appear accurately to identify the presence of depression. There has, furthermore, been a reluctance to use reliable and valid instruments f or the detection of depression which may in part be related to a concern ab out medical ideology and the potential pathologizing effect of using such i nstruments. Depression, however, remains an important issue and this paper suggests a means for identifying women at high risk of depression; in the p rocess, firmly recasting the issue in psychosocial terms. Using classificat ion trees, two strategies are developed through which mothers likely to be depressed are identified through the presence of particular combinations of psychosocial problems. The implications of this for practice are discussed .