Interpersonal Therapy-Based Treatment to Prevent Postpartum Depression in Adolescent Mothers
Condition: Postpartum Depression
MeSH terms: Depression, Postpartum; Depression; Depressive Disorder
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The Specific Aim of this study is to conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate
      whether Project REACH (an interpersonal psychotherapy-based intervention) compared with a
      didactic attention-control program reduces the risk of PPD in adolescent mothers.

      Primary Hypothesis:

        1. The intervention (Project REACH) will be significantly more efficacious than the control
           program in reducing the risk of PPD up to six months postpartum in adolescent mothers.

           Secondary Hypotheses:

        2. The decreased rate of major depression in the Project REACH group compared to the
           control program group will be sustained through one year postpartum.

        3. Adolescent mothers in Project REACH compared to the control program group will have
           higher levels of maternal-child bonding.
    

Detailed description: 
      Each year, more than 400,000 births in the United States are to mothers less than 20 years
      old. Alarmingly, approximately 25-36% of teen mothers experience postpartum depression (PPD),
      a condition associated with significant social and health morbidity. PPD places teen mothers
      and their children at great risk during an already challenging time in their lives.
      Preventing PPD in this vulnerable population is essential to improving overall health.

      Project REACH is a randomized controlled trial, to evaluate whether our novel preventive
      intervention compared to a didactic attention control reduces the risk of PPD in adolescent
      mothers. The intervention, REACH (Relax, Encourage, Appreciate, Communicate, Help), is based
      on Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and targets those factors that may play a significant
      role in the development of PPD in adolescent mothers (i.e., poor social support, role
      transitions and life stressors). The control condition includes didactic prenatal education
      sessions.

      Project REACH builds on the foundation of our NIMH-funded treatment development project and
      pilot study (R34 MH077588). The pilot study demonstrated feasibility, acceptability and
      initial efficacy in a small sample. The current R01 proposal aims to evaluate the efficacy of
      the Project REACH intervention in reducing the risk of PPD.
    

Intervention name(s): Interpersonal therapy-based treatment
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Interpersonal therapy-based treatment Participants assigned to receive interpersonal therapy-based treatment will focus on the psychological aspects of pregnancy and factors that may play a role in the development of postpartum depression in teenage mothers, such as poor social support, role transitions, and life stressors. (5 weekly sessions with a booster session postpartum)
Other intervention name(s): REACH 2
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Randomized trial; Postpartum depression; Adolescent pregnancy; Interpersonal psychotherapy