BeAMom Trial

• Principal Investigator: Mariana Branquinho
• Period: 2020 - ...
• Funding: FCT Individual Doctoral Fellowship (SFRH/BD/145563/2019)

The negative effects of postpartum depression (PPD) and its high prevalence are well reported in literature. However, despite the existence of effective treatments (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy), there are low professional help-seeking rates among postpartum women with PPD, due to several barriers (e.g., childcare constraints, high costs). Blending face-to-face psychological intervention with e-health tools could overcome practical barriers perceived by postpartum women, reduce treatment costs, improve therapy adherence, produce positive long-term improvements and increase postpartum women’s access and utilization of mental health care system.

In this context, this project aims to develop and evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of a blended cognitive-behavioral intervention for the treatment of postpartum depression by integrating face-to-face sessions with a web-based program: Be a Mom Coping with Depression. The efficacy of the intervention will be assessed considering two indicators: a) decrease or absence of clinically significant depressive symptoms at post-intervention and follow-up; and b) post-intervention and follow-up improvements in mother’s psychosocial adjustment indicators (e.g., anxiety symptoms, marital satisfaction, maternal self-efficacy). It also aims to investigate the mechanisms explaining the treatment response (e.g., psychological flexibility, self-compassion) and characteristics moderating the treatment response (e.g., motivation for therapy, therapeutic relationship).