Archives of women's mental health
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Arch Womens Ment Health · Apr 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialEffectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for comorbid depression and anxiety in pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial.
Pregnant women are at high risk of mood and anxiety disorders, and options for non-pharmacological treatment are limited. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has strong evidence among people with mood and anxiety disorders, but limited studies reported the effectiveness of MBCT on perinatal comorbid conditions. This study aimed to examine the effects of an 8-week MBCT intervention on pregnant women with comorbid depression and anxiety. ⋯ Improvements in outcomes were maintained 1 month. Results provide cross-cultural support for MBCT as a treatment for depression and anxiety in pregnant women. This brief and non-pharmacological treatment can be used to improve maternal psychological health.
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Arch Womens Ment Health · Dec 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialHealth services utilization of women following a traumatic birth.
This cohort study compared 262 women with high childbirth distress to 138 non-distressed women. At 12 months, high distress women had lower health-related quality of life compared to non-distressed women (EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D) scale 0.90 vs. 0.93, p = 0.008), more visits to general practitioners (3.5 vs. 2.6, p = 0.002) and utilized more additional services (e.g. maternal health clinics), with no differences for infants. Childbirth distress has lasting adverse health effects for mothers and increases health-care utilization.
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Arch Womens Ment Health · Jun 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialMaternal thoughts of harm in response to infant crying: an experimental analysis.
Ninety-eight mothers of healthy firstborn infants 0 to 6 months old were randomly assigned to listen to 10-min of infant crying or infant cooing while continuously rating subjective feelings of frustration. Participants completed pre-test measures of depressed mood, empathy, and trait anger and post-test measures of infant-related harm thoughts, negative and positive emotions, and urge to comfort and to flee. Twenty-three (23.5 %) participants endorsed unwanted thoughts of active harm (e.g., throwing, yelling at, shaking the infant). ⋯ Women in the cry condition who endorsed thoughts of harm reported higher frustration levels over the 10 min of crying, higher levels of post-test negative emotions, and stronger urges to flee the infant but not stronger urges to comfort the infant. Trait anger and personal distress empathy predicted the occurrence of unwanted thoughts of infant harm, whereas negative mood did not. Unwanted, intrusive, infant-related thoughts of harm may be triggered by prolonged infant crying, are predicted by personal distress empathy and a tendency to experience anger, and are associated with higher frustration, negative emotions, and the urge to escape the infant.
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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.