Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: The Effect of Counseling with Skills Training Approach on Maternal Functioning: a  
Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial  
 
Version: 0 Date: 07 Jan 2020  
 
Reviewer: Neetha Morar  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Pleas e include all comments for the authors in this box rather than uploading your report as an 
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Above may be sent to the authors The overall concept, RCT design and intervention seems 
valuable and the authors are commended for the efforts and writing the paper b ased on their 
experience.  
 
 
Overall comments  
 
The authors are requested to rewrite the paper especially the results section to justify the 
conclusion as this is not clearly linked based on the RC T design and goals of the paper/study.  
The introduction requir es more focus on the description of the use of the intervention in the RCT 
design and what are the current gaps beyond the fact that this work was not done in Iran. 
Generarly with RCT designs one must be able to replicate the trial in upanother population and 
as a reviewer I was not able to understand the two groups and how a coonclusion was made 
about the benefits of the intervention and what was provided in the control group. The abstract 
may then be revised to acieve greater clarity of the conclusion bas ed on the RCT design. I would 
request that a statiscian review the methods section based on the complexity of the steps 
described to achieve a sample size of 68 from having 100 women in the study.  
 
 
introduction  
 
In line 1 and 2 there is reference made to social and psychological challenges but there is no 
reference and it is unclear if the second sentence which is about impact on women's self and 
activities are related. The conclusion makes no links to self and ac tivities improvement with 
specific indicators. May the authors please try and redo the introduction with specific reference 
to their study. This study seems the first RCT as mentioned on page 15 which is appreciated. 
May there be a more recent reference on  line 9 (Kantora, 2007) added to this one please. Line 11 
to 15 which refers to impact on infants does not seem very relevant as I understand this study to 
be about the impact of the counselling intervention on the mothers and npt on the infants unless 
this was measured in the RCT. Please focus on the mothers in the introduction. It may be 
valuable to define concepts like psychological well being and indicators used in this RCT and 
relate the interventon to the conclusion. Line 21 and 22 refers to broad ter ms like maternal and 
reproductive literature which needs to be more specific to this RCT study. Page 5 - please 
explain dysfuction in line 12 and what us impaired vs dysfunction for the entire paper. Complete 
sentence on page 5 line 19 and provide clarity on the message for readers. Page 6 line 1 
discussed group counselling thus it is unclear if the counselling was group or skills training was 
in group. Describe the STA used in yur study and outcomes of previous studies as this may help 
the reader understan d the study outcomes.  
 
 
 
Methods  
 
The study was 4 months using RCT. This is not clear in terms of measuring impact and making 
the conclusion. Please expand on the RCT design and study duration with regards to measuring 
the outcomes. The results section needs to be expanded more with outcomes of the methods 
used. Describe routine postpartum care on page 10 in terms of the control group as this may be 
specific to the local context.  
 
 
 
Results  
 
Please describe how 100 women were included and from where in more deta il. The results 
require more information on the impact of the intervention please. It is vague and thus I was not 
able to link the conclusion to the results.  
 
best wishes on the rewrite of the valuable paper.  
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify  which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manusc ript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I recommend additional sta tistical review  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares  in an organisation t hat may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents  relating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you recei ved reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have  no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
"I declare that I have no competing interests'  
 
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