Postpartum depression peer support: Maternal perceptions from a randomized controlled trial☆
Section snippets
Background
Postpartum mood disorders represent the most frequent form of maternal morbidity after childbirth (Stocky and Lynch, 2000). These disorders range in severity from the early maternity “blues” to postpartum psychosis (Evins and Theofrastous, 1997) and include postpartum depression, a condition comprised of the often disabling symptoms of dysphoria, emotional liability, insomnia, confusion, anxiety, guilt, and suicidal ideation. A recent meta-analysis of 30 studies reported prevalence rates for
Peer support evaluation inventory
The validated Peer Support Evaluation Inventory (PSEI) (Dennis, 2003b) was used to provide an in-depth assessment of maternal perspectives of the intervention at 12 weeks postpartum. The PSEI is a 4-subscale self-report instrument developed to measure an individual's perception of support received from a peer. The first subscale assessed supportive interactions (e.g., emotional, appraisal, and informational support) and included 15 items. The second subscale assessed relationship qualities
Maternal perceptions of peer support
At 12 weeks postpartum, 221 (63.3%) mothers in the intervention group returned their mailed evaluations of their peer volunteer experiences. Among these mothers, 19 (8.6%) indicated that they never spoke to their peer volunteer for several reasons such as: (a) peer volunteer did not telephone, (b) missed each other's calls, (c) no longer interested in receiving peer support, and (d) had enough support. These 19 mothers did not complete the returned PSEI. There was no significant difference
Discussion
Social support experts have recommended that peer support interactions be comprehensively analyzed in order to promote a theoretical understanding of peer support mechanisms and the development of more effective intervention (Cohen et al., 2002). In this trial, the majority of peer volunteers provided emotional support, and three quarters of the relationships included both informational and appraisal support. This finding is consistent with a peer support concept analysis (Dennis, 2003a) and
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Trial ISRCTN registration: 68337727.