Abstract
Objective: Preventive interventions for postpartum depression (PPD) are critical for women at elevated risk of PPD. Mindfulness based cognitive therapy-perinatal depression (MBCT-PD) is a preventive intervention that has been shown to reduce risk for PPD in women with a prior history of depression. The objective of this clinical trial is to examine two potential mechanisms of action of MBCT-PD, emotion regulation and cognitive control, using behavioral and neuroimaging methods. Method: This baseline protocol describes a randomized control trial (RCT) with two arms, MBCT-PD and treatment as usual (TAU). We plan on enrolling 74 females with a prior history of a major depressive episode, with 37 participants randomized to each arm. Participants in the MBCT-PD arm will receive MBCT-PD during pregnancy, and the TAU group will receive standard prenatal care. All participants will complete the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and classic Stroop task at multiple points from pregnancy through six months postpartum. Participants will also complete an fMRI scan at six weeks postpartum. Results: All primary outcomes are collected at six weeks postpartum. Primary behavioral outcomes include: depressive symptoms on the CESD-R, cognitive reappraisal on the ERQ, and Stroop task performance. In parallel, the primary neurobiological outcomes include whole-brain activation during fMRI tasks when participants 1) regulate emotional responding and 2) engage cognitive control. Conclusions: This results of this innovative RCT will help identify potential behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of action of preventive interventions for PPD for in-depth examination in larger scale RCTs.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 758-766 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Health Psychology |
Volume | 39 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2020 |
Keywords
- Cognitive behavior therapy
- Mindfulness
- Postpartum
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Applied Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health