Information Sources and Postpartum Depression Knowledge in Northern Nigeria: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

In most low-resource contexts, postpartum depression is poorly identified, and maternal mental health literacy is constituted by the multidimensional social and communication networks. This study explores the effect of information sources and risk communication on predicting knowledge of postpartum depression among Northern Nigerian women. The survey was cross-sectional among women of reproductive age in Niger and Yobe States, and the data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling to determine how well the various communication pathways predicted each other. Based on the Health Belief Model, the structural model indicates that interpersonal networks, medical personnel, religious leaders, radio, and digital platforms have significant and positive predictive influences on postpartum depression knowledge that jointly explain a large percentage of the variance in the awareness of women. The strongest predictive value is communication by medical staff and online platforms, which is followed by family networks and religious leaders, which shows the key role of trust and accessibility in health beliefs formation. On the contrary, the predictive influence of newspapers, magazines, television, indigenous media and opinion leaders in the model is weak and statistically insignificant. This study has shown that perceptions of susceptibility, severity and benefits of postpartum depression are socially mediated and not acquired individually through an explicit modelling of the explanatory power of the various sources of communication. The results give evidence-based recommendations on effective maternal mental health interventions that focus on trusted interpersonal, religious and medical communication avenues to enhance awareness and prompt action to postpartum depression.