2002 International International Biennial Scientific Meeting

WORKING WITH FAMILIES: A NEW APPROACH TO THE TREATMENT OF POSTNATAL DEPRESSION

Emma Hirst, Louis Appleby and Peter Callery

Centre for Women's Health, University of Manchester, UK

EmmaMcr@aol.com

Introduction/Background: Postnatal depression affects 10-15% of all new mothers, and has many detrimental health and social effects on both the woman and her family.

Cognitive behavioural counselling (CBC) has been shown to be a simple and effective treatment that can be successfully delivered by health visitors. However, it is a woman focused therapy, and only addresses family concerns in a limited way. The current study aims to address this limitation.

Aims of the study:

• To explore the relationship between Postnatal depression and relationship difficulties in parents, through qualitative methods
• To modify cognitive behavioural counselling (for PND) in line with these qualitative findings
• To review the revised counselling with parents and health visitors

Method: A qualitative Grounded Theory approach is being used to collect and analyse data. This involves identifying and interviewing mothers and fathers using an open-ended approach, and then looking for themes within each interview and comparing them until core theories are recognised and understood.

Findings: Four themes have emerged so far, though data collection and analysis is ongoing

• The new role of the mother as a complex change with both positive and negative effects on the couple's relationship
• Adaptation to parenthood seemed very different in couples where the mother was depressed
• All mothers, depressed or not, felt they took the initiative with childcare. Partners of depressed women however, felt more excluded from babycare than those of non-depressed women
• Partners of depressed women were as supportive as those of non-depressed women, but were perceived as unsupportive.

Discussion: Several areas have been highlighted that could be addressed in CBC, including communication between couples and role change. Delivery of the intervention may also need addressing to fit in with fathers' availability and acceptability.