2002 International International Biennial Scientific Meeting

POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION IN WOMEN ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE: PILOT STUDY OF AN INTERPERSONALLY-ORIENTED GROUP INTERVENTION

Caron Zlotnick*, Sheri L Johnson, Ivan W Miller, Teri Pearlstein, and Margaret Howard

* Butler Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

caron_zlotnick@brown.edu

Objective: About 10-16% of parous women experience a postpartum depression which is associated with more severe depressive symptoms, social dysfunction, and marital maladjustment than depression unrelated to the postpartum period. Reducing the risk of postpartum depression in poor women is especially important since poverty is associated with twice the rate of postpartum depression and socioeconomic adversity amplifies the negative effects of postpartum depression on infant development. This present study investigated whether a preventive intervention based on interpersonal psychotherapy principles administered to pregnant women would reduce the risk of postpartum major depression.

Method: Thirty-seven pregnant women on public assistance with at least one risk factor for postpartum depression were randomly assigned to a four-session group intervention or to a treatment as usual condition. Structured diagnostic interviews were administered to assess for postpartum major depression.

Results: Within three months of postpartum, 6 (33%) of the women in the treatment as usual condition had developed a postpartum major depression compared to none in the intervention condition.

Conclusion: A four-session interpersonally-oriented group intervention was successful in preventing the occurrence of major depression during a postpartum period of three months in a sample of financially disadvantaged women.

Supported by a grant from the Third Generation Klingenstein Foundation and National institute of Mental Health (PI Dr. Zlotnick).