Mindfulness and Maternal Mental Health

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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There is preliminary empirical support for the use of mindfulness interventions during the perinatal period; suggesting that mindfulness training may be an effective treatment approach for reducing depression and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and reducing anxiety, stress, and psychological distress during the postpartum period. To extend on these findings, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief mindfulness-based program in protecting maternal mental health and well-being using a randomized controlled trial.

Detailed Description
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Based on the results reported in the existing literature that show that formal mindfulness-based practice is effective for improving mental health status and preventing depressive symptom relapse, this research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief mindfulness-based program, offered during pregnancy, in reducing mothers' psychological symptoms during pregnancy and the postpartum period. A brief program has the advantage being more economical to facilitate compared to full-length programs and also requires a shorter commitment from pregnant women, who are also attempting to manage multiple other new and existing demands (e.g., obstetrics appointments, work). As emerging research suggests that women are particularly vulnerable to increased depressive, anxious, obsessive, compulsive, and hypomanic symptoms during the perinatal period these are the main psychological symptoms that will be assessed. As well, perceived stress and psychological resiliency will also be assessed for in order to examine changes in these domains in relation to mindfulness engagement. Furthermore, as a reduction in maternal psychological symptoms has been reported to have implications for mother-infant bond, the mother's interpersonal functioning, and maternal quality of life, the investigators will also assess to see if there are corresponding changes in these domains related to mindfulness engagement.

Official Title
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The Role of Mindfulness Skills Training in Maternal Mental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Conditions
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Mindfulness

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Mindfulness


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: pregnant, age 18 years and older, able and willing to attend the study site for the four group sessions. Exclusion Criteria: presence of a current severe mental health condition or mental heath difficulties that would be better addressed through another form of therapy, active major medical illness including significant obstetric complications, inability to give informed consent, inability to speak or understand English, at high risk for delivery before reaching full term (38 weeks gestation), or previous completion of a structured mindfulness-based program.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Mindfulness Group<br>Participants assigned to the mindfulness group will attend four weekly sessions that are each 1.5 hours in length. The sessions will follow the structure described by Short, Mazmanian, Ozen, & Bédard (2015). The structure is designed to first enhance learners' foundation skills in mindfulness and progresses into teaching learners more advanced mindfulness skills. | Behavioral: Mindfulness<br>* The mindfulness intervention follows the structure described by Short, Mazmanian, Ozen, & Bédard, (2015).<br>|
| No Intervention: Social (control) Group<br>Participants assigned to the social group will also attend four weekly sessions that are each 1.5 hours in length. Each session will have participants focus on a creative tasks while permitting task related discussion. In this way the format is designed to parallel the mindfulness group, where participants engage in a new activity each week and have an opportunity to discuss the activities with the group without engaging in any formal intervention. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale |  | 12 weeks postpartum | 
| Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Anxiety Subscale |  | 12 weeks postpartum | 
| Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised |  | 12 weeks postpartum | 
| Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale |  | 12 weeks postpartum | 
| Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire |  | 12 weeks postpartum | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Perceived Stress Scale |  | 12 weeks postpartum | 
| Brief Resilience Scale |  | 12 weeks postpartum | 
| Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire |  | 12 weeks postpartum | 
| World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale |  | 12 weeks postpartum | 
| Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support |  | 12 weeks postpartum |