Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32409986›Full record

Trial reportArchives of women's mental health2021

A pilot study of a group-based perinatal depression intervention on reducing depressive symptoms and improving maternal-fetal attachment and maternal sensitivity.

Jeanne L Alhusen, Matthew J Hayat, Lori Borg

Open access · greenAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Archives of women's mental health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.

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  8. Can Social Work Interventions Improve Perinatal Mental Health Outcomes? A Systematic Review.Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health
    Pooled it
  9. Review
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  11. Zoom to the Virtual Room: The Shift to Remote Early Childhood Observational Assessments.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2026
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jeanne L AlhusenUniversity of Virginia School of Nursing, 225 Jeanette Lancaster Avenue, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA. Jla7e@virginia.edu.
Matthew J HayatGeorgia State University, Urban Life, 140 Decatur Street, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA.
Lori BorgUniversity of Virginia School of Nursing, 225 Jeanette Lancaster Avenue, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA.
University of Virginia · USGeorgia State University · US

Funding

Biological Underpinnings of Maternal Attachment in High Risk PopulationsK23NR015810 · NINR · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · PI ALHUSEN, JEANNE L · 2015 to 2017
$392k
NINR NIH HHS K23 NR015810
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To conduct a pilot study of a group-based perinatal depression intervention, the Mothers and Babies Course, on depressive symptomatology, maternal-fetal attachment, and maternal sensitivity, 60 pregnant women with moderate to severe depressive symptomatology were randomized to a 6-week intervention or usual care group at their initial prenatal care visit. Measures of depressive symptomatology and maternal-fetal attachment were collected at baseline and 36 weeks gestation. At 12 weeks postpartum, participants completed a measure of depressive symptomatology, and an objective measure of maternal sensitivity was collected. Participants randomized to the intervention group completed an average of 5.2 sessions, and 70% of women completed all six sessions. Exploratory analyses showed that at 12 weeks postpartum, participants randomized to the intervention group had an 8.32-point decrease from baseline on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) as compared to a 4.59-point decrease among participants randomized to usual care. Participants randomized to the intervention group had a mean change score of 12.60 in maternal-fetal attachment via the Maternal Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS) as compared to 4.60 among participants in usual care. Maternal sensitivity scores, assessed via the Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training-Feeding Scale (NCAST-Feeding), were higher at 12 weeks postpartum for women in the intervention group as compared to women in usual care (59.2 and 51.8, respectively). Our pilot study findings provide preliminary support for the benefits of a perinatal depression intervention, delivered in a group setting, on reducing depressive symptomatology, and improving maternal-fetal attachment and maternal sensitivity. Further research, conducted with larger samples, is necessary to determine the effect of this intervention on indicators of maternal attachment.

Indexed as

DepressionDepression, PostpartumChildFemaleHumansMothersPilot ProjectsPregnancyPrenatal CareMaternal-fetal attachmentMaternal sensitivityPerinatal depressionRandomized controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID32409986
PMCPMC7666645
OpenAlexW3024719146

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.