None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
In this research study, we will be trialling a new potential way of preventing a common form of anxiety experienced by first-time mothers, specifically, postnatal obsessions and compulsions. Participants will be more than 20 and less than 32 weeks’ pregnant with their first child, and will be randomly allocated (like the toss of a coin) to either watch a short (5-10 minute) online video on negative thoughts associated with becoming a parent, or will be waitlisted to receive the video after the study is finished. Participants will be asked to do three online surveys and telephone interviews (including the mental health screening interview) at three different time points: in pregnancy (when you first enter the study), and at 2-3 months and 5-6 months after your baby's expected due date. The postnatal interviews will include questions about your mental health and thoughts and feelings that some parents have after having their baby. We predict that the results of our study will show that receiving antenatal education (i.e. viewing the video) about negative thoughts associated with becoming a parent is linked with lower obsessions and compulsions in the postnatal period.
Interventions
The intervention consists of brief psychoeducation intended to correct maladaptive metacognitive (i.e. psychological) beliefs about unwanted, intrusive thoughts that have been found to be linked to the onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the postnatal period. Psychoeducation was provided via a single, short (7-minute) online informational video, developed by the research team (including two Clinical Psychologists, a Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist, and a Provisionally-Registered Psycholo
The intervention consists of brief psychoeducation intended to correct maladaptive metacognitive (i.e. psychological) beliefs about unwanted, intrusive thoughts that have been found to be linked to the onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the postnatal period. Psychoeducation was provided via a single, short (7-minute) online informational video, developed by the research team (including two Clinical Psychologists, a Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist, and a Provisionally-Registered Psychologist and Doctoral Candidate). Participants received the intervention during pregnancy (at >20 weeks' gestation). Adherence was monitored using a short validation survey that participants were required to complete after viewing the video and before childbirth that assessed their comprehension of the information presented in the video. Additionally, adherence to the intervention (i.e. participants' viewing of the video) was also verified by a researcher as part of the final telephone follow-up interview conducted at 5-6 months post participants' expected due date. The video contained information on the nature and prevalence of postnatal intrusions, examples of common postnatal intrusions, and more helpful metacognitive appraisals of, and strategies for responding to, intrusive thoughts in the postnatal period.
Sponsors
Curtin University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Participants are females; at least 18 years of age; English-speaking; expecting first child and in the prenatal period - defined, for the purpose of this research, as the period from 20 to 32 weeks gestation (‘prenatal’) through to the 6-months post-childbirth (‘postnatal’) - at the time of diagnostic screening. To be included, participants also consented to be contacted by a researcher by telephone to complete a pretrial screening interview, and two follow-up assessments.
Exclusion criteria
Individuals were be excluded from the study if, based on a diagnostic screening telephone interview (using the MINI), they met criteria for any of the following conditions; current OCD, substance disorder, borderline personality disorder, or antisocial personality disorder; current/past psychotic disorder or bipolar disorder; or are currently on psychotropic medication.
Outcome results
None listed