The primary aim of the proposed research is to evaluate the efficacy of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) as a treatment for antenatal depression. The treatment outcomes to be investigated in this study include the effects of IPT on the reduction of women's depressive symptoms and on their rates of remission from depression. Changes in social and marital adjustment which result from treatment will also be evaluated.
The second aim of the proposed research is to identify factors that are associated with response to IPT, so that women who may benefit from IPT can be more accurately identified in the future.
The third aim of the proposed research is to evaluate the effect of treatment with IPT during pregnancy on women's depressive symptoms during the puerperium.
The fourth aim of the proposed research is to identify factors that are associated with high levels of postpartum depressive symptomatology among women receiving either IPT or the control treatment during pregnancy. A total of 110 women in their first and second trimesters of pregnancy will be recruited from Maternal Health Centers (MHC's) across the state of Iowa. This recruitment strategy will include women from a wide range of socioeconomic classes and both rural and urban settings. Women will be randomly assigned to treatment with IPT or to a treatment as usual condition. Women in the treatment as usual condition will receive treatment from physicians at their local MHC. The treatment as usual condition is designed to reflect the treatment that women currently receive for antenatal depression in the community, and to provide a valid test of the effectiveness of IPT. IPT will be delivered over 12 weeks during the antenatal period to women in the group receiving IPT. Assessments of women before, during, and after the completion of treatment will be conducted to evaluate its effectiveness. Women will also be followed for a year following delivery to assess their postpartum emotional and social adjustment. We expect that women treated with IPT will have significantly lower levels of depression and higher levels of social functioning than women in the control condition. We also expect that women receiving IPT will have significantly lower levels of depressive symptomatology during the puerperium than women in the control condition. We hypothesize that IPT will be an effective low-risk alternative to the use of medication during pregnancy.
| Kopelman, Robin Cook; Moel, Joy; Mertens, Carol et al. (2008) Barriers to care for antenatal depression. Psychiatr Serv 59:429-32 |
| Stuart, Scott; Noyes Jr, Russell (2006) Interpersonal psychotherapy for somatizing patients. Psychother Psychosom 75:209-19 |
