Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
Postpartum depression (PPD) occurs almost as often among men as it does among women. However, while there have been multiple programs designed to prevent maternal PPD, few, if any, interventions exist that have been created specifically to prevent paternal PPD. After engaging in evidence-based qualitative research with soon-to-be or new fathers, a novel interpersonal-therapy based digital program was created to prevent paternal PPD called Together in Parenting (TIP), which comprises multiple podcasts and digital educational handouts. While screening for eligibility for an ongoing pilot feasibility trial (NCT07594743), 20% of those were ineligible because they either endorsed having depression or anxiety or screened positive on psychometric surveys for having moderate symptoms of these conditions. TThe proposed pilot study will examine the feasibility and acceptability of using TIP as an intervention for fathers who have mental health symptoms, and will generate preliminary estimates of effect of the intervention to support a future efficacy study.
Postpartum depression (PPD) PPD affects 8-10% of men, and paternal anxiety affects up to 15% of men. Paternal mental health symptoms are often underdiagnosed and undertreated. It is hard to identify fathers who have mental health symptoms due to cultural conceptions of masculinity, leading to the risk that fathers do not recognize their symptoms as mental health symptoms and engage in avoidant or numbing behavior instead of appropriate treatment. Even if they recognize their mental health symptoms, men are less likely than women to pursue help due to the stigma of mental health care, resulting…
Inclusion Criteria: 1. English-speaking (for now, TIP is only available in English) 2. age \>18 years old, 3. smartphone ownership or access to home internet, 4. partner or patient received or receiving prenatal care from a resident or nurse-practitioner/midwifery clinic at the Obstetrics and Gynecologic Care Center (OGCC) at Women \& Infants Hospital of Rhode Island (WIHRI) or receiving an ultrasound at the WIHRI's Prenatal Diagnosis Center , 5. planned delivery or status post delivery at WIHRI. 6. self-reported history of depression/anxiety or active depression/anxiety or screen positive on…
Together in Parenting is an novel digital intervention that was designed specifically to improve paternal mental health symptoms and was optimized via qualitative research with target end-users. The interpersonal therapy-based program contains four modules that include content on infant care and parenting education and a progressive, interactive interpersonal therapy-based curriculum. Each module contains four audio- and video-record podcasts that last 8-15 minutes, with most less than 10 minutes. In addition, TIP contains voluntary exercises to engage users with specific content after some podcast (there are 10 exercises in total). Those who complete all four modules and all will receive a digital certificate of completion.