Trial reportArchives of women's mental health2021
Improving the mother-infant relationship following postnatal depression: a randomised controlled trial of a brief intervention (HUGS).
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 24 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perinatal Mental Health Interventions with a Parent-Child Relational Component: A Systematic Review of the Effects on Mothers and Dyads.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2025Pooled it
- Targeted interventions to improve the social and economic circumstances of people with mental ill-health from marginalised communities: a systematic review.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Associations between maternal psychological distress and mother-infant bonding: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of women's mental health · 2023Pooled it
- The effectiveness of mother-led infant massage on symptoms of maternal postnatal depression: A systematic review.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Developmental Trajectories of Emotional Availability Differ Between Dyads With Children With and Without Motor Delay.Infancy : the official journal of the International Society on Infant StudiesTrial
- A Qualitative Evaluation of Caregivers' Perceptions of a New Australian Public Mental Health Service (Nurturing Connections).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Mixed-methods evaluation protocol for the Nurturing Connections Programme: a new Australian perinatal and infant mental health service.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Impact of postpartum persistent depression on infant developmental behavior and maternal self-efficacy.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- Brief Interventions for Families Seeking Support from Family Services: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Mamas in Harmony: protocol for a pilot RCT and process evaluation of a music and social support intervention establishing the feasibility of reducing anxiety and stress in postnatal mothers.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Evaluation of Group Therapy Intervention for Anxiety and Depression in the Postnatal Period.Maternal and child health journal · 2025Article
- A socially prescribed creative play intervention for new parents: investigating post traumatic stress around birth and changes in postnatal depression and reflective function.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- The impact of gestational diabetes mellitus on perceived mother-infant bonding: a qualitative study.Journal of reproductive and infant psychology · 2025Article
- A network analysis of postpartum depression and mother-to-infant bonding shows common and unique symptom-level connections across three postpartum periods.Communications psychology · 2025Article
- Non-pharmacological Radical Methods for Treating Postpartum Depression Around the Globe: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2024Review
- Early Detection of 5 Neurodevelopmental Disorders of Children and Prevention of Postnatal Depression With a Mobile Health App: Observational Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Observational
- Healing Together: A Narrative Review on How Psychiatric Treatment for Parental Depression Impacts Children.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Review
- A virtual mother-infant postpartum psychotherapy group for mothers with a history of adverse childhood experiences: open-label feasibility study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Gestational diabetes mellitus and its impact on the mother-infant relationship: A cohort study in the postnatal period.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Article
- The effect of perinatal interventions on parent anxiety, infant socio-emotional development and parent-infant relationship outcomes: A systematic review.JCPP advances · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Postnatal depression (PND) disrupts the crucial mother-infant relationship on which optimal child development depends. However, few well-evaluated, brief mother-infant interaction interventions exist. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to evaluate the effect of a 4-session, group-based mother-infant interaction intervention ('HUGS'), compared to a control playgroup, both following cognitive-behavioural therapy for PND, on mother-infant relationships and early child development. It was hypothesised that dyads receiving the HUGS intervention would show larger improvements than control dyads. Mothers (n = 77; M age = 32 years) diagnosed with major or minor depressive disorder using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV participated with their infants (<12 months). Primary outcomes were observed mother-infant interactions using the Parent Child Early Relational Assessment (ERA) and maternal parenting stress using the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). Data were collected at baseline, post-PND treatment, post-HUGS intervention and 6-month post-HUGS follow-up. Seventy-four percent of HUGS dyads attended at least half of the HUGS sessions (≥2). Significant group differences emerged at the 6-month follow-up (but were not significant immediately post-HUGS). At 6-month follow-up, HUGS dyads showed significantly improved parental positive affective involvement and verbalisation (ERA; F
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Registered trials
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.