Thinking Healthy Program Peer Delivered Plus

Summary

Background

The negative effects of perinatal depression on mother and child start early and persist throughout the life-course. Given that 10-35% of children worldwide are exposed to perinatal depression in their first year of life, 16 mitigating this intergenerational risk is a global public health priority. However, there is a dearth of studies on whether a maternal depression intervention can have long-term benefits for either the mother or her child. This is a study of the effectiveness of an extended 36-month peer-delivered depression intervention, the Thinking Healthy Programme PLUS (THPP+) for women and their children in rural Pakistan.

Study Design

The THPP+ study aims to evaluate the effects of an extended 36-month perinatal depression intervention on mother and child outcomes using a cluster randomized controlled trial (c-RCT) design. The trial will recruit 560 pregnant women who screened positive for perinatal depression (PHQ-9 \>=10) from 40 village clusters, of which 20 clusters will receive the THPP+ intervention delivered by trained peers. These women will have already been participating in the trial of the shorter, 6 month long, version of the intervention. Women in the THPP+ intervention arm will receive bimonthly group-based sessions. Primary outcomes are 3-year maternal depression and 3-year child socio-emotional and cognitive development. All primary analyses will be intention-to-treat and will account for the clustered study design.

Discussion

This trial has the potential to further significantly our understanding of whether intervening on women's perinatal depression can mitigate the negative effects of maternal depression on 36-month child development.

Conditions

• Depression

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Thinking Healthy Program Peer Delivered Plus

OTHER

Enhanced Usual Care

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Duke University

  collaborator OTHER

• Columbia University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Liverpool

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Essex

  collaborator OTHER

• Human Development Research Foundation, Pakistan

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Siham Sikander · Human Development Research Foundation, Pakistan

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2014-10-31

Primary Completion

2019-08-01

Completion

2019-08-01

Countries

• Pakistan

Study Locations