Project Details
Description
Women of childbearing age are under high-risk of experiencing major depressive disorder. Pregnancy may further place mothers in greater risks of depression. Maternal perinatal mental status not only affects mothers’ health themselves but has profound impact on the fetal and neonatal development. There is thus an imperative need to concern issues of maternal perinatal depression and mental health both academically and practically. This study thus proposes a prevention-intervention model for maternal perinatal depression. A screening of depression among pregnant women will be implemented first to evaluate the current picture of perinatal depression in Taiwan and to investigate the timing and method for appropriate screening of depression. In addition, a health survey will be performed to investigate the issues of maternal mental status (e.g., depression, anxiety, psychosis) and their affecting factors. With the strategies and involvement of a prevention-intervention model, a network for screening services, and an intervention and follow-up of high-risk women, it is hoped that maternal perinatal mental status may be promoted. Thus, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and a self-reported questionnaire named Questionnaire on Maternal Depression and its Related Factors will be edited and distributed to a total of 1,230 pregnant women in Metropolitan Taipei area. The depression screening and health survey aim at investigating the current picture of maternal perinatal mental illnesses in Taiwan and at assessing risk factors related to their occurrence. Based upon the results from the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, for pregnant women with “lower risk of experiencing depression,” a primary prevention program of health counseling will be designed and carried out to a total of 160 randomly selected women (with 80 women each in the “health counseling intervention group” and in the “regular care comparison group”). For those with “higher risk of experiencing depression” in the depression screening program by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, two groups of “psycho-cognitive intervention group” and “regular care comparison group” will be randomly assigned (about 80 women in each group) as a secondary prevention program. Finally, these pregnant women will be followed-up and an investigation of their mental health will be performed again at the end of the intervention and six weeks after the end of the intervention. The effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed prevention-intervention model will be well monitored and evaluated. Recommendation will be proposed to promote a more comprehensive prenatal care and medial intervention program to decrease the impact of maternal perinatal depression in Taiwan. It is hoped that further prevention intervention programs may be more appropriately designed to fit the various needs of pregnant women with depression.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 1/1/11 → 12/31/11 |
Keywords
- prenatal depression
- postnatal depression
- the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale
- risk factors
- intervention
Fingerprint
Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.