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Interventions reduced stress in mothers of preterm infants

A brief intervention could reduce symptoms of trauma, anxiety and depression in mothers of preterm infants, according to recent study findings published in Pediatrics.

Richard J. Shaw, MD, of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, and colleagues evaluated 105 mothers of preterm infants to determine whether an intervention could reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. Participants were randomly assigned to a six- or nine-session intervention using trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (CBT; intervention group) or a one-session intervention with education about the neonatal ICU and parenting (comparison group).

At baseline, no differences were found for ratings of trauma, anxiety and depression; previous trauma history; and current psychiatric diagnoses of major depression, dysthymia or anxiety among the two groups.

At the 6-month assessment, participants in the intervention group showed better outcomes for trauma (P<.001), depression (P=.002) and anxiety (P=.001) vs. the comparison group.

“The results of the study reveal that (1) a brief intervention based on principles of trauma-focused CBT was effective at reducing symptoms of trauma, anxiety, and depression in a highly stressed population of mothers of preterm infants; (2) mothers showed increased benefits at the 6-month follow-up suggesting that they continued to make use of techniques acquired during the intervention phase; and (3) there were no benefits from additional sessions beyond the original 6-session intervention,” the researchers wrote.

Disclosure: The study was funded in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the National Center for Research Resources, the National Institutes of Health and the National Institutes of Mental Health.