Although the small sample size limits drawing strong general
conclusions from the study’s results, the findings do suggest the
IQP-R with some minor modification may appropriately be used
as a measure of illness perceptions in PPD and may help understand how mothers view their illness. The IPQ-R may be a useful
assessment tool to help explore the influence of illness beliefs on
treatment use. As certain illness perceptions were shown to correlate with depression severity at least in the short term, the
measure could be used as a screen for all mothers to see who
could potentially be at more risk of experiencing severe depression, based upon how they perceive PPD.