Interventions for Depressed Low Income Mothers and Their Infants

Prevention for Infants of Low-Income Depressed Mothers

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00105573

Enrollment

218

Registered

2005-03-16

Start date

2004-01-31

Completion date

2010-04-30

Last updated

2013-04-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Depression

Keywords

Mother-Child Relations, Infant, Child Development, Poverty

Brief summary

This study will compare three interventions for depressed, low income mothers and determine which is most effective in treating maternal depression and in fostering development in infants.

Detailed description

Poorly educated, low income mothers are at high risk for becoming depressed. The effects of living in poverty and being reared by a depressed parent can be detrimental to an infant's development. Effective interventions to reduce maternal depression and strengthen the mother-infant relationships are needed. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups. Group 1 mothers will receive 16 weekly sessions of interpersonal psychotherapy (IP) designed to directly treat maternal depression. Group 1 participants will have monthly follow-up visits for 1 year. Participants in Group 2 will receive 16 weekly sessions of IP followed by 1 year of in-home, infant-parent psychotherapy, an intervention addressing relationship difficulties between depressed mothers and their infants. Group 3 mothers will be invited to attend informational meetings as well as be referred to local services available to people with depression. All mother-child pairs will be evaluated when the child is 12, 16, 24, and 36 months of age. Evaluations will involve questionnaires, diagnostic interviews, developmental assessments, and video- and audio-taped measures.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALMaternal interpersonal psychotherapy (IP)

Participants will receive 16 weekly sessions of maternal IP designed to directly treat maternal depression.

BEHAVIORALInfant-parent psychotherapy

Participants will receive 1 year of in-home, infant-parent psychotherapy, an intervention addressing relationship difficulties between depressed mothers and their infants.

BEHAVIORALInformational meetings plus treatment as usual

Participants will be invited to attend informational meetings as well as be referred to local services available to people with depression.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

FEMALE

Age

18 Years to 44 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

for Mothers: * Current diagnosis of depression * Mother of an infant 9 to 11 months of age * Low income, defined as less than $25,000 for a family of two or less than $31,400 for a family of three (add approximately $7,960 for each additional family member)

Exclusion criteria

for Mothers: * Current substance abuse * Severe mental or physical limitations that would interfere with the study

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Maternal depression	Measured when the child is 12, 16, 24, 36, and 48 months of age
Child development	Measured when the child is 12, 16, 24, 36, and 48 months of age
Infant-parent attachment	Measured when the child is 12, 16, 24, 36, and 48 months of age

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026