PURPOSE: To examine the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for the prevention of postpartum depression (PPD) in "at risk" women. MATERIALS and METHODS: We recruited 927 pregnant women in 6 obstetric and gynecology clinics and screened them using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Ninety-nine of the screened women who had significantly high scores in BDI (a score above 16) were selected for the study. They were contacted through by telephone, and 27 who had consented to participate in the study were interviewed via SCID-IV-I. Twenty-seven eligible women were randomly assigned to the CBT intervention (n = 15) and control condition (n = 12). All participants were required to complete written questionnaires, assessing demographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, negative thoughts, dyadic communication satisfaction, and global marital satisfaction prior to treatment and approximately 1 month postpartum. The 15 women in the CBT condition received 9 bi-weekly 1-hour individual CBT sessions, targeting and modifying negative patterns of thinking and behaviors occurring in the context of the dyadic relationship. RESULTS: The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that there were significant differences in all postpartum measures between the 2 groups, indicating that our antenatal intervention with CBT was effective in reducing depressive symptoms and improving marital satisfaction, which lasted until the postpartum period. CONCLUSION: Our pilot study has provided preliminary empirical evidence that antenatal CBT intervention can be an effective preventive treatment for PPD. Further study in this direction was suggested.
Adult ; *Cognitive Therapy ; Depression, Postpartum/*psychology/*therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Pilot Projects

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of music therapy on postpartum blues and maternal attachment of puerperal women. METHODS: The research design was a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design. The participants were puerperal women who agreed to participate in this study and through a convenience sampling, 60 puerperal women were recruited (30 in the experimental group, 30 in the control group). After measuring postpartum blues and maternal attachment, music therapy was provided to the experimental group over 40 min, once a day, and for 8 days. Then, postpartum blues and maternal attachment for the experimental and control group were measured again on the 8th day. The data were analyzed using the SPSS WIN 12.0 Program. RESULTS: The first hypothesis that "the degree of postpartum blues for the experimental group who participated in music therapy would be lower than that of the control group" was accepted (t=4.350, p<.001). The second hypothesis that "the degree of maternal attachment of the experimental group who participated in music therapy would be higher than that of the control group" was accepted (t=4.828, p<.001). CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that music therapy has positive influences on decreasing postpartum blues and increasing maternal attachment of puerperal women.
Adult ; Demography ; Depression, Postpartum/*psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Mother-Child Relations ; *Music Therapy

At the end of 2019, a new form of pneumonia disease known as the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread throughout most provinces of China, and the total global number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 500 000 by Mar. 27, 2020 (WHO, 2020). On Jan. 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global health emergency (WHO, 2020). COVID-19 causes most damage to the respiratory system, leading to pneumonia or breathing difficulties. The confirmed case fatality risk (cCFR) was estimated to be 5% to 8% (Jung et al., 2020). Besides physical pain, COVID-19 also induces psychological distress, with depression, anxiety, and stress affecting the general population, quarantined population, medical staff, and patients at different levels (Kang et al., 2020; Xiang et al., 2020). Previous research on patients in isolation wards highlighted the risk of depressed mood, fear, loneliness, frustration, excessive worries, and insomnia (Abad et al., 2010).
Adult ; Anxiety ; therapy ; Betacoronavirus ; China ; Coronavirus Infections ; psychology ; therapy ; Depression ; therapy ; Dialectical Behavior Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; psychology ; therapy ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; psychology

PURPOSE: Despite the high prevalence of back pain and its subsequent effects in post-partum women, intervention programs are scarce. The purpose of this study was to test the effects of a back-pain-reducing program on post-partum women who experienced low-back pain during pregnancy. METHODS: A non-equivalent control-group pretest-posttest design was used. Pregnant women who attended a hospital for prenatal check-ups and experienced back pain participated in an intervention program (n=27), and the results were compared with women in a control group from another hospital (n=25). RESULTS: At 8 weeks post-partum, the pain intensity, functional limitations were lower in the intervention group than in the control group. However, differences in mean change of the pain intensity and functional limitations between 36 and 39 weeks of gestation and at 8 weeks post-partum were not statistically significant between the groups. Moreover, the flexibility, post-partum functional status, and post-partum depression did not differ significantly between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: A back-pain-relief program in this study was not effective to reduce the back-pain intensity in post-partum women and to decrease the associated functional limitations. The implications for nursing practice and directions for future research are discussed.
Activities of Daily Living ; Adult ; Back Pain/psychology/*therapy ; Depression, Postpartum/etiology ; Exercise ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Patient Education as Topic ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications/*therapy ; *Prenatal Care ; Puerperal Disorders/*prevention & control

The postpartum depression outcome and the effect of psychological intervention were studied in order to reduce the occurrence and development of the postpartum depression. A survey of 4000 women within 4-6 weeks postpartum in 80 communities in Shenzhen, China was performed using random cluster sampling method. By employing Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) as a screening tool, the positive women (defined as EPDS ≥10) were randomly divided into intervention group and control group at a ratio of 1:2. The women in the intervention group were treated by means of mailing postpartum depression prevention and treatment knowledge manual, face-to-face counseling, and telephone psychological counseling interventions aiming at individual risk factors, while those in the control group were treated with conventional methods. EPDS scores were assessed in these two groups again at 6th month postpartum. Totally, 3907 valid questionnaires were obtained. All the 771 positive women were divided into two groups: 257 in the intervention group, and 514 in the control group. At 6th month postpartum, the EPDS scores in the intervention group were decreased significantly, from baseline stage (12.84±3.02) to end stage (3.05±2.93), while EPDS scores in the control group were reduced from 12.44±2.78 to 6.94±4.02. There were significant differences in the EPDS scores at end stage between the two groups (t=13.059, P<0.001). Psychological intervention can reduce postpartum depression, with better maternal compliance. It is feasible and necessary to establish postpartum depression screening and psychological intervention model in community-hospital and include the postpartum depression screening, intervention, and follow-up into the conventional healthcare.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Depression, Postpartum ; diagnosis ; psychology ; therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Interview, Psychological ; Mass Screening ; Psychotherapy ; methods ; Risk Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult