This Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) application is to support Dr. Battle's development as an independent research scientist with expertise in developing and evaluating psychosocial treatments for depressed childbearing women. Her emphasis will be on creating a comprehensive intervention that promotes positive outcomes not only for the depressed mother, but also for other family members, in particular the children who are at risk for developmental problems. This area of research is important in light of the limited psychosocial treatment options currently available for depressed childbearing women, and the long-term negative consequences for children of depressed mothers. Dr. Battle's initial goal is to develop a family treatment for postpartum depression based on an existing, well-established model of family assessments and treatment, the McMaster Model of Family Functioning. Dr. Battle's training goals are to: 1) gain experience with treatment development, particularly family approaches to treating depression, 2) develop expertise treating and conducting research with depressed postpartum women, 3) improve skills in research design, methodology and ethics relevant to intervention research, 4) learn assessment techniques needed for evaluating child and maternal-child outcomes, 5) develop advanced statistical techniques relevant to clinical trials research, and 6) improve manuscript preparation and grant-writing skills. This training plan will be accomplished through 1) the resources available at Brown University Medical School; 2) high quality mentorship provided by Dr. Ivan Miller, Dr. Michael O-Hara, Dr. Ronald Seifer, and Dr. Teri Pearlstein; 3) completion of formal coursework, seminars and supervised clinical experiences; and 4) implementation of the proposed research project. As part of the career development award, Dr. Battle will complete a 5-year research plan focused on developing and evaluating the efficacy of the McMaster Family treatment for Postpartum Depression (MFTP). After an initial period of treatment development (Year 1), a randomized controlled pilot trial will be conducted between years 2-4, the findings from which will be used to further refine the treatment during a revision phase in year 5. Results from this research will be sued to justify an R01 application for a full-scale clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of MFTP, which will be submitted during the final year of the award. This larger investigation will include more substantive assessment of child and family outcomes, building on the specialized training that Dr. Battle receives during the course of the K23 award.
| Salisbury, Amy L; Wisner, Katherine L; Pearlstein, Teri et al. (2011) Newborn neurobehavioral patterns are differentially related to prenatal maternal major depressive disorder and serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment. Depress Anxiety 28:1008-19 |
| Battle, Cynthia L; Zlotnick, Caron; Pearlstein, Teri et al. (2008) Depression and breastfeeding: which postpartum patients take antidepressant medications? Depress Anxiety 25:888-91 |
| Howard, M; Battle, C L; Pearlstein, T et al. (2006) A psychiatric mother-baby day hospital for pregnant and postpartum women. Arch Womens Ment Health 9:213-8 |
| Battle, Cynthia L; Zlotnick, Caron; Miller, Ivan W et al. (2006) Clinical characteristics of perinatal psychiatric patients: a chart review study. J Nerv Ment Dis 194:369-77 |
