section name header

Evidence summaries

Psychosocial and Psychological Interventions for Treating Antenatal Depression

There is insufficient evidence of the effect of psychosocial and psychological interventions for treating antenatal depression. Level of evidence: "D"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 1 trial involving a total of 38 outpatient antenatal women who met DSM-IV criteria for major depression. Interpersonal psychotherapy, compared to a parenting education program, was associated with a reduction in the risk of depressive symptomatology.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by indirectness and by imprecise results (one small trial with a non-generalisable sample), and possible reporting bias.

    References

    • Dennis CL, Ross LE, Grigoriadis S. Psychosocial and psychological interventions for treating antenatal depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007 Jul 18;(3):CD006309. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords