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Early Intervention to Protect the Mother-Child Relationship After Postpartum Depression

HUGS : Early Intervention to Protect the Mother-Child Relationship After Postpartum Depression: A Randomized Comparative Trial of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05209789
Acronym
HUGS
Enrollment
104
Registered
2022-01-27
Start date
2023-12-18
Completion date
2026-03-25
Last updated
2026-05-12

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

Conditions

Post Partum Depression

Keywords

Mother-baby interaction, Group therapy, Cognitive behavioral therapy, mother-infant relationship

Brief summary

Postpartum depression (PPD) may impair the mother-infant relationship and lead to both short and long-term suboptimal development of the baby. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a targeted intervention (HUGS: Happiness Understanding Giving and Sharing) for enhancing the mother-infant relationship.

Detailed description

Post-partum depression (PPD) is the most common psychological pathology following childbirth and affects 12% of women in France. This pathology may impair the mother-infant relationship and lead to suboptimal development of the baby in the short and long-term. The prevalence of early interaction disorders is estimated at 73% among women suffering from PPD. Although treatments for PDD are effective, the mother-infant interaction remains impaired, as well as the short, medium and long-term development of the child. It is therefore essential to develop at a very early stage an intervention specifically targeting the mother-infant interaction, and to integrate this care into the general care given to mothers suffering from PPD. A short cognitive-behavioural therapy intervention focused on improving the quality of the mother-infant relationship (the HUGS program: Happiness, Understanding, Giving and Sharing) has been created and validated by Prof. Jeannette Milgrom's Australian team. The objective of our study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the HUGS programme compared to a Playtime control group using a randomised controlled trial in a population of women suffering from PPD and being cared for in 7 French maternity hospitals. The comparison will be made 6 months after intervention initiation using "Factor 1: Mother Positive Affective Involvement and Verbalization" of the PCERA (Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment) mother-child interaction evaluation scale.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALHUGS

Group therapy with the participation of two therapist positively encouraging mother-baby interactions in a non-judgmental manner

BEHAVIORALPlaytime

Very little intervention from the therapists

Sponsors

University Hospital, Toulouse
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Masking description

group attribution blinded to evaluators for the evaluation of the primary endpoint via video tapes

Intervention model description

Multicenter, interregional, comparative, prospective therapeutic study in 2 parallel groups (1: 1), superiority, randomized, blinded for the evaluation of the primary endpoint.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

regarding the mother: * Person affiliated or beneficiary of a social security plan; * Free, informed and written consent signed by the participant and the investigator (at the latest on the day of inclusion and before any examination required by the research); * Woman who gave birth in one of the maternity hospitals participating in the study; * Diagnosis of postpartum depression made by the perinatal psychiatry team according to the clinical criteria of the DSM-5; * Time to onset of depressive symptoms within the first 12 months after childbirth; * Treatment for postpartum depression that started at least 8 weeks ago with improved mood as assessed by the psychiatrist. Inclusion criteria for the baby: * Baby aged less than 1 year at inclusion; * Twins will be able to participate in the study and benefit from the interventions; Non-inclusion criteria concerning the mother: * Uncontrolled substance use disorder; * Presence of suicidal ideas at inclusion; * Manic episode of a bipolar disease * Psychiatric pathology decompensated upon inclusion and corresponding to the following list: Schizophrenic disorder, Schizoaffective disorder, Mood disorders with psychotic symptoms; * Non French speaker. Non-inclusion criteria for the baby: \- Baby hospitalized or having sustained medical care upon inclusion in the context of a somatic pathology.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Mother-infant interaction6 months after the end of the interventionThe primary endpoint will be the score of factor 1 ("positive affective commitment of the mother as well as her verbalization skills with her baby") of the mother-baby interaction assessment scale The Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment ( PCERA) between the two study groups : HUGS and Playtime. PCERA factor 1 will be measured by analysis of video footage of each mother-baby duo by two independent blind assessors from allocation groups.The score taken into account will be the consensus score between the two evaluators.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Mothers' stressRight before the intervention (Baseline)Parental Stress Index (PSI-3) measured on both groups. This index is categorised in various items (stressors), each including a Likert style index from 1 to 5. The PSI-3 sums up all the items into a score : a high score representing a high stress for the parent.

Countries

France

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORCarole GENTILLEAU, MD

University Hospital, Toulouse

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: May 13, 2026