Brief Interpersonal Therapy May Reduce Prenatal Depression

Pregnant individuals experiencing elevated levels of depression may benefit more from weekly interpersonal therapy (IPT) sessions than those who receive mental health counseling and maternity social services. Thesefindings were published inJAMA Psychiatry.“Approximately 17% of pregnant individuals meet criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnosis, and up to 37% report elevated symptoms during pregnancy,” wrote Benjamin L. Hankin, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and colleagues. IPT “focuses on psychoeducation a nd interpersonal skill building to decrease interpersonal conflict and increase interpersonal support and competence.”Hankin and colleagues recruited 234 individuals aged 18 to 45 who were no more than 25 weeks ’ pregnant from obstetrics clinics in the Denver metropolitan area from 2017 to 2021. All participants reported elevated depressive symptoms—defined by the authors as a score of ≥10 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) screening tool; about 37% had a diagnosis of MDD as determine d by the Structured Clinical Interview forDSM-5.The study participants were randomized to receive eight, 50-minute sessions of MomCare (described by the authors as “a culturally relevant, collaborative care intervention that provides brief IPT”) or enhanced usual care. Participants in the MomCare group were taught about the link between feelings and interpersonal interactions, as well as strategies to resolve interpersona...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: depression Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale EPDS interpersonal therapy IPT JAMA Psychiatry MomCare prenatal depression SCL-20 Symptom Checklist Source Type: research