Women who receive support during pregnancy experience more positive mental and physical health outcomes during the labor, delivery, and postpartum periods than women who do not receive support ( Collins, Dunkel- Schetter, Lobel, & Scrimshaw, 1993; Cutrona, 1984). (Goldstein, Diener & Mangelsdorf, 1996, p
It responds to external sounds from at least twenty weeks, and can produce its own hormonal and other stress responses from mid-gestation ( Glover, 1997). (Weissman, Markowitz & Klerman, 2000, p
Yonkers and colleagues (2009) assessed the efficacy of the federal Healthy Start depression initiative in the state of New Jersey and found no advantage to screening for pregnant and postpartum women seeking care in publicly-funded facilities. A more recent meta-analysis of the research literature found screening for adult depression in primary care settings provided no benefit (Gilbody, Sheldon, and House, 2008)
Yonkers and colleagues (2009) assessed the efficacy of the federal Healthy Start depression initiative in the state of New Jersey and found no advantage to screening for pregnant and postpartum women seeking care in publicly-funded facilities. A more recent meta-analysis of the research literature found screening for adult depression in primary care settings provided no benefit (Gilbody, Sheldon, and House, 2008)
A more recent meta-analysis of the research literature found screening for adult depression in primary care settings provided no benefit (Gilbody, Sheldon, and House, 2008). In addition, an evaluation of a state program in New Jersey, which screened women for postpartum depression, found no increase in treatment-seeking behavior among low-income women on Medicaid (Kozhimannil, Adams, Soumerai, and Huskamp, 2011)
All of these studies, including those encompassed by the meta-analyses, had methodological problems, including non-randomized samples and insufficient statistical power. A recent randomized, controlled study used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to evaluate a postpartum depression screening and treatment initiative for a Hong Kong sample (Leung et al
Background Several studies have attempted to determine if the screening for, and treatment of, postpartum depression improves care outcomes. Pignone and colleagues (2002) performed a meta-analysis of six adult depression screening efficacy studies, published between 1994 and 2001, and found a two to three-fold increase in the diagnosis of depression and a 7% decline in symptoms six months post screening (Pignone et al
Leung and colleagues (2011) discovered the infants of depressed mothers tended to visit the pediatrician significantly more often, which suggests this type of independent measure could also be used. Involving Stakeholders The possible stakeholders include obstetrician/gynecologists (Ob/Gyn), pediatricians, nurses, and mental health workers (Price, Corder-Mabe, and Austin, 2012, p
Another recent randomized, controlled study examined the efficacy of primary care screening and treatment for postpartum depression in the U.S. population (Yawn et al
Another recent randomized, controlled study examined the efficacy of primary care screening and treatment for postpartum depression in the U.S. population (Yawn et al
From this increased level of research, Beck created a now well-recognized theory in regards to why PPD and its related mood disorders occur within new mothers. She asserts that the brain typically accommodates for certain stressors, but major "stressful events (internal or external), particularly over long periods, cause disruption of the biochemical regulation in the brain" which can trigger mood and psychological disorders based on the presence of such stress (Maeve, 729)
In fact, may who suffer from PPD witness extra fatigue, disrupted sleeping, reduction in sexual desires, and changes in weight, whether it be gains or losses. Typically, women experience a combination of symptoms, which can help health care practitioners better diagnose PPD overall (Oppo et al
Researchers often report statistical significance in findings even when this may not be fully applicable in certain types of research. Statistical significance in terms of the present study relates to testing and alternative hypothesis against the null hypothesis that the difference between the IPT and WLC groups is zero on the measures, whereas clinical significance refers to a relative difference between the groups that reflects a meaningful qualitative difference with respect to the change in pathology in the treatment group (Cohen, 1997; Hageman & Arrindell, 1999)
Both are poor rationalizations for not adhering to a standard procedure in psychotherapy research. In effect, this is a major confound in the study as experimenter demand on subjects as well as inadvertent scoring differences by raters to adhere with expectations can drastically change the outcome of an experiment (Daston, 2005)
And of course the WLC represents a true control condition, crucial in experimental research. The major analyses were performed with repeated measures ANOVAs on standardized measures of depression (Hamilton Depression Inventory [HAMD] and the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI] for depression and the Social Adjustment Scale-self-report scale [SAS-SR], Postpartum Adjustment Questionnaire [PAQ] and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale [DAS] for changes in interpersonal relations)
5). The generalziability of the findings is quite limited and again the authors do acknowledge this; however, what they do not acknowledge is that their sample may have fit the old YAVIS notion of successful therapy responders (Young, Attractive, Verbal, Intelligent, and Successful) given the review of the demographic data of the sample (Lewis, Davis, Walker, & Jennings, 1981)
This is because interpersonal factors are believed to significantly contribute to psychological problems such as depression (unlike other therapies that often focus on intrapsychic processes). Originally developed by Harry Stack Sullivan, IPT was initially heavily influenced by psychodynamic psychotherapy but has borrowed from cognitive behavioral approaches as well (Weissman & Markowitz, 1998)
In a well-known case, on June 20, 2001, Yates "drowned her five children in the bathtub and told the police detectives that she 'was a bad mother and expected to be punished.' Yates had a history of two suicide attempts and had been hospitalized both times with diagnoses of postpartum depression (PPD) and postpartum psychosis" (Abrams & Curran, 2007)
There can also be contributing factors such as a history of depression, marital problems, socioeconomic problems, and a lack of support and/or friendships that can lead to the disorder. In addition, some studies indicate that single women, minority women, and low-income women all suffer more from postpartum depression (Grote & Bledsoe, 2007)
In addition, some studies indicate that single women, minority women, and low-income women all suffer more from postpartum depression (Grote & Bledsoe, 2007). Women suffering from the disease often feel as if they are "isolated, trapped, and misunderstood" (Mason, Rice & Records, 2005), but there have been surprisingly few studies of women who are actually suffering from postpartum depression