TY - JOUR
T1 - Engagement in and Benefits of a Short-Term, Brief Psychotherapy Intervention for PTSD During Pregnancy
AU - Kornfield, Sara L.
AU - Johnson, Rachel L.
AU - Hantsoo, Liisa V.
AU - Kaminsky, Rachel B.
AU - Waller, Rebecca
AU - Sammel, Mary
AU - Epperson, C. Neill
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by NIMH K23MH102360 (SK) and NIMH K23MH107831 (LH).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Kornfield, Johnson, Hantsoo, Kaminsky, Waller, Sammel and Epperson.
PY - 2022/6/15
Y1 - 2022/6/15
N2 - Trauma-related symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common during pregnancy and have adverse effects on pregnancy and birth outcomes, post-partum maternal mental health, and child development. The arousal symptoms associated with PTSD, including heightened or dysregulated physiology, may contribute to these adverse outcomes. Low-income minoritized women may be at highest risk given more lifetime exposure to trauma and limited access to mental health care. While evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD exist, none are targeted to non-treatment seeking individuals nor specifically integrated with prenatal care. Thus, we developed and tested the efficacy of a short-term (four sessions) brief (30–45 min) psychotherapeutic intervention designed to address PTSD symptoms in pregnant women receiving prenatal care at two urban medical centers. Participants were 32 pregnant women with an average gestational age of 18.5 weeks at the time of enrollment. The sample was overwhelmingly non-Caucasian, single, and reported very low income. Participants completed measures of trauma-related symptoms (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, PCL), and depression (Edinburgh post-natal Depression Scale, EPDS) at baseline, twice during treatment, post-treatment, and at 10–14 weeks post-partum. The intervention was successful at significantly decreasing symptoms of PTSD (PCL score = −20.27, 95% CI: −25.62, −14.92, P < 0.001, W = −7.43) and depression (EPDS score = −4.81, 95% CI: −7.55, −2.06, P = 0.001, W = −3.23) by the final session. These benefits were sustained at post-treatment and post-partum follow ups. Future research should further explore the effectiveness of this treatment in a randomized controlled trial.
AB - Trauma-related symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common during pregnancy and have adverse effects on pregnancy and birth outcomes, post-partum maternal mental health, and child development. The arousal symptoms associated with PTSD, including heightened or dysregulated physiology, may contribute to these adverse outcomes. Low-income minoritized women may be at highest risk given more lifetime exposure to trauma and limited access to mental health care. While evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD exist, none are targeted to non-treatment seeking individuals nor specifically integrated with prenatal care. Thus, we developed and tested the efficacy of a short-term (four sessions) brief (30–45 min) psychotherapeutic intervention designed to address PTSD symptoms in pregnant women receiving prenatal care at two urban medical centers. Participants were 32 pregnant women with an average gestational age of 18.5 weeks at the time of enrollment. The sample was overwhelmingly non-Caucasian, single, and reported very low income. Participants completed measures of trauma-related symptoms (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, PCL), and depression (Edinburgh post-natal Depression Scale, EPDS) at baseline, twice during treatment, post-treatment, and at 10–14 weeks post-partum. The intervention was successful at significantly decreasing symptoms of PTSD (PCL score = −20.27, 95% CI: −25.62, −14.92, P < 0.001, W = −7.43) and depression (EPDS score = −4.81, 95% CI: −7.55, −2.06, P = 0.001, W = −3.23) by the final session. These benefits were sustained at post-treatment and post-partum follow ups. Future research should further explore the effectiveness of this treatment in a randomized controlled trial.
KW - ACE
KW - PTSD—post-traumatic stress disorder
KW - brief interventions
KW - perinatal mental health
KW - women's health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133510665&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85133510665&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.882429
DO - 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.882429
M3 - Article
C2 - 35782453
AN - SCOPUS:85133510665
SN - 1664-0640
VL - 13
JO - Frontiers in Psychiatry
JF - Frontiers in Psychiatry
M1 - 882429
ER -