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Group interpersonal psychotherapy for postnatal depression: a pilot study

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 March 2006

Summary

We conducted a pilot study to assess the potential effectiveness of group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-G) as a treatment for postnatal depression (PND). The study was also established to test a treatment manual for IPT-G, assess the acceptability of this format for participants and test a recruitment strategy for a randomised controlled trial. 18 mothers diagnosed with PND participated in 2 individual session and 8 sessions of group IPT. A two-hour psychoeducational session was also held for the partners of the participants. Measures of depressive symptomatology and social adjustment were administered by an independent clinician at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 3 months post treatment. Patient satisfaction with the treatment was also evaluated. Severity scores on the BDI, EPDS and the HDRS decreased from pre- to post-treatment. This was maintained at three months follow up. No overall improvement in the Social Adjustment Scale-Self Report was noted, although there was improvement in their relationship with their significant other. The results confirm previous work that IPT-G may improve symptom severity for women suffering from postnatal depression. Limitations included the use of antidepressant therapy by 67% of subjects and the lack of a control group. There is a need for further randomised controlled trials of IPT-G with larger sample sizes to establish its effectiveness as treatment for PND.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academic Unit of Psychological Medicine, ANU Medical School, The Canberra Hospital, Garran, Australia

    R. Reay

  2. Fisher and Evans Private Psychological Services, Narrabundah, Australia

    Y. Fisher

  3. Mayo-Wesley Centre for Mental Health, Taree, Australia

    M. Robertson

  4. Private Practice, Curtin, Australia

    E. Adams

  5. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    C. Owen

Authors
  1. R. Reay
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  2. Y. Fisher
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  3. M. Robertson
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  4. E. Adams
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  5. C. Owen
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Additional information

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00737-006-0120-5.

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Reay, R., Fisher, Y., Robertson, M. et al. Group interpersonal psychotherapy for postnatal depression: a pilot study. Arch Womens Ment Health 9, 31–39 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-005-0104-x

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