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Brief Psycho-educational Intervention to Enhance Maternal Reflective Functioning in the Early Postpartum Among Primiparous: Pilot Study

NCT07318168 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 66

Last updated 2026-01-05

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This randomized pilot trial tests a brief psycho-educational group program designed to enhance maternal reflective functioning (RF)-the capacity to understand one's own and the baby's behavior in terms of thoughts and feelings-among first-time mothers in the early postpartum. Primiparous women aged ≥18 years, 1-5 months postpartum, were randomized 1:1 to the intervention or a wait-list control. The intervention consists of four weekly 90-minute Zoom sessions with short home practices.

The primary outcome is interview-based RF assessed with the FMSS-RF (blind-coded) at post-intervention. Exploratory outcomes include self-reported RF (PRFQ-CMS), depressive symptoms (EPDS), emotion-regulation (ERQ-Suppression), and feasibility/acceptability indices (recruitment, retention, attendance, satisfaction).

This single-site study is conducted at the University of Haifa (Faculty of Education). If effective, the low-intensity, telehealth format may offer a scalable postpartum support option for first-time mothers.

Conditions

  • Postpartum Period
  • Maternal Mental Health
  • Parenting / Maternal Behavior
  • Primiparity (First-Time Mothers)
  • Depressive Symptoms, Postpartum

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Thinking Emotions - Postpartum RF Group

Brief psycho-educational program to enhance maternal reflective functioning (RF): four weekly 90-minute Zoom group sessions led by a trained clinician; components include recognizing mental states, perspective-taking, reading infant cues, emotion-regulation strategies, and repair of mismatches; brief home practices between sessions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Haifa

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-12-01
Primary Completion
2022-10-30
Completion
2022-10-30

Countries

  • Israel

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07318168 on ClinicalTrials.gov