A preventive intervention for pregnant women on public assistance at risk for postpartum depression.
OBJECTIVE
Promising results were obtained in an earlier pilot study of a preventive intervention based on the principles of interpersonal psychotherapy to reduce the risk of postpartum major depressive disorder. In this study, the authors examined whether the intervention would reduce the risk of postpartum major depressive disorder in a larger sample of pregnant women.


METHODS
Ninety-nine pregnant women on public assistance who were assessed to be at risk for postpartum depression were randomly assigned to receive standard antenatal care plus the intervention or standard antenatal care only. Diagnostic interviews were administered 3 months after delivery to assess for major depressive disorder.


RESULTS
Within 3 months after delivery, eight (20%) of the women in the standard antenatal care condition had developed postpartum major depressive disorder, compared with two (4%) in the intervention condition.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides further evidence for the efficacy of a brief intervention to reduce the occurrence of major depressive disorder among financially disadvantaged women during a postpartum period of 3 months.
Zlotnick
Caron
C
Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI 02906, USA. caron_zlotnick@brown.edu
Miller
Ivan W
IW
Pearlstein
Teri
T
Howard
Margaret
M
Sweeney
Patrick
P
D000328:Adult; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief / Q000379:methods; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods; D011632:Public Assistance; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D016896:Treatment Outcome