Archives of women's mental health
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Arch Womens Ment Health · Sep 2008
Multicenter StudyThe Pregnancy Depression Scale (PDS): a screening tool for depression in pregnancy.
Depression in pregnancy can be underdiagnosed as a consequence of the symptoms being misattributed to "normal pregnancy." There are currently no validated clinician-rated scales that assess for depression specifically during pregnancy. We sought to develop a brief, convenient screening tool to identify depression in pregnant women in the community setting. Prospective mood data using the 28-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were collected monthly in 196 pregnant women with a history of a major depressive disorder. ⋯ Endorsement of symptoms on seven items of the HDRS were highly predictive of having a major depressive episode during pregnancy. We present a well-validated, brief scale to screen pregnant women for clinical depression. Whether this study will generalize to women who do not have a history of major depression remains to be studied.
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Arch Womens Ment Health · Jul 2008
Policy and practice in the management of postnatal depression in Scotland.
To investigate current policy and practice in postnatal depression in Scotland and to consider how effectively guidelines were addressed. A questionnaire survey of all National Health Service Boards in Scotland between September 2003 and February 2004 to determine what written policies for postnatal depression were in place as at September 2003. This was followed by a questionnaire survey of a representative sample of general practices in Scotland to determine the routine procedures in use for managing postnatal depression in general practice primary care teams. ⋯ Board guidance did not relate significantly to the likelihood of practices following the other evidence-based recommendations. Minimum standards represented by the SIGN 60 evidence-based recommendations were mostly followed in both policy and practice. If Board policy followed guidelines, the guidelines were more likely to be implemented at primary care level.
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Arch Womens Ment Health · Jan 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialEffects of a mindfulness-based intervention during pregnancy on prenatal stress and mood: results of a pilot study.
Stress and negative mood during pregnancy increase risk for poor childbirth outcomes and postnatal mood problems and may interfere with mother-infant attachment and child development. However, relatively little research has focused on the efficacy of psychosocial interventions to reduce stress and negative mood during pregnancy. In this study, we developed and pilot tested an eight-week mindfulness-based intervention directed toward reducing stress and improving mood in pregnancy and early postpartum. ⋯ Measures of perceived stress, positive and negative affect, depressed and anxious mood, and affect regulation were collected prior to, immediately following, and three months after the intervention (postpartum). Mothers who received the intervention showed significantly reduced anxiety (effect size, 0.89; p<0.05) and negative affect (effect size, 0.83; p<0.05) during the third trimester in comparison to those who did not receive the intervention. The brief and nonpharmaceutical nature of this intervention makes it a promising candidate for use during pregnancy.
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Arch Womens Ment Health · Jan 2007
Randomized Controlled Trial Controlled Clinical TrialMissed antenatal depression among high risk women: a secondary analysis.
Psychiatrically high-risk women were recruited for a postpartum depression prevention trial. Participants were screened at entry (20-26 weeks gestation) by a psychiatrist prior to receiving randomized treatment. ⋯ Only two women developed major depression in the postpartum period. Our data suggests, among high-risk women, obstetric care providers may be overlooking up to one fifth of women with current major depression.