A Pilot Randomized Trial of Video-based Family Therapy for Depressed Home Visited Mothers

Dartmouth Health

Status: Completed

Conditions: Perinatal Depression; Postpartum Depression; Family Conflict

Treatments: Behavioral: Resilience Enhancement Skills Training; Behavioral: Problem-Solving Individual Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT04741776

1R34MH124951 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

D21065

Details and patient eligibility

About

Depressed mothers (pregnant and post-delivery) make up a significant portion of Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) clients. Home visited mothers often experience family conflict that precipitates or worsens their depressive symptoms. This study uses an effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 1 design with a pilot randomized trial to test the feasibility, acceptability, tolerability, safety, and preliminary effectiveness of an innovative family therapy intervention that uses technology to bypass barriers to increase access to treatment for this vulnerable population.

Enrollment: 166 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 15+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Mothers in any trimester of pregnancy through 18 months postpartum who are enrolled in home visiting at a participating agency;
• Fluent in English;
• Mother and her family member have at least an 8th grade education;
• Mothers with Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition scores of at least 20;
• Perceived Hostility Survey-Adult raw scores of at least 16 for the adult mother and her adult family member; Perceived Hostility Survey-Child raw scores of at least 14 for the adolescent mother and her adolescent intimate partner; and
• Consistent internet access on their cell phones, tablets, or computer equipped with a microphone and camera.

Exclusion criteria

• Suicidal ideation in the mother and/or her family member;
• Mothers with bipolar disorder symptoms;
• Psychotic symptoms in the mother and/or her family member;
• Mother is currently receiving individual therapy;
• Family is currently receiving family therapy;
• Mothers who have been taking an antidepressant for less than 2 months; and
• Families with domestic violence.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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166 participants in 2 patient groups

Video-based family therapy

Experimental group

Description:

Resilience Enhancement Skills Training (REST)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Resilience Enhancement Skills Training

Standard of care

Active Comparator group

Description:

Video-based Problem Solving individual Therapy (V-PST)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Problem-Solving Individual Therapy