Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40138124›Full record

ArticleMaternal and child health journal2025

Evaluation of Group Therapy Intervention for Anxiety and Depression in the Postnatal Period.

Jessica Appleton, Cathrine Fowler, Lisiane Latouche, Jenny Smit, Margaret Booker, Greg Fairbrother

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Maternal and child health journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

6 authors.

Jessica AppletonTresillian Family Care Centres, McKenzie Street, Belmore, Sydney, NSW, 2192, Australia. jessica.appleton@uts.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5416-4471
Cathrine FowlerTresillian Family Care Centres, McKenzie Street, Belmore, Sydney, NSW, 2192, Australia.
Lisiane LatoucheTresillian Family Care Centres, McKenzie Street, Belmore, Sydney, NSW, 2192, Australia.
Jenny SmitTresillian Family Care Centres, McKenzie Street, Belmore, Sydney, NSW, 2192, Australia.
Margaret BookerTresillian Family Care Centres, McKenzie Street, Belmore, Sydney, NSW, 2192, Australia.
Greg FairbrotherSydney Local Health District, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesEffective interventions for the prevention and treatment of postnatal depression and anxiety are important for family functioning and infant development. Group psychotherapy is one such intervention used in the postnatal period. This evaluation tests the efficacy of an eight-week group psychotherapy on participants' symptoms of postnatal depression and anxiety. The study also reports on the addition of a sequential attachment-based parenting program on participants' symptoms of depression and anxiety.

methodsThe study setting was a child and family health service in New South Wales, Australia. 141 women participating in a group psychotherapy program consented to participate in the study. A pre-test post-test design with four week follow up was used. Depression was measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and anxiety with the anxiety subscale (EPDS-3a). Repeated measures analysis of variance and multiple factorial mixed analysis of variance were conducted.

resultsThe mean EPDS score reduced significantly from 14.11 pre-intervention to 9.99 (p < .001). The mean EPDS-3a score reduced significantly from 5.68 pre-intervention to 4.37 (p < .001). These improvements were still present four weeks after completion of the program at a 'group reunion' session. The addition of a sequential attachment-based parenting program was not shown to be effective in further reducing symptoms of depression or anxiety (p =.183). CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: These findings support the efficacy of group psychotherapy interventions for reducing both depression and anxiety symptoms in the postnatal period. This intervention demonstrated lower depression symptoms in the post test compared to the pre-test periods for women with and without previous history of mental illness and those with varied baseline depression symptoms.

Indexed as

AnxietyDepression, PostpartumMothersPsychotherapy, GroupAdultFemaleHumansNew South WalesParentingProgram EvaluationPsychiatric Status Rating ScalesTreatment OutcomeEPDSGroup psychotherapyMothersPostnatal anxietyPostnatal depression

Identifiers

PMID40138124
PMCPMC12006229

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Registered trials

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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.