Prevention of Postpartum Anxiety in High-Risk Women

April 11, 2023 updated by: Sheryl Green, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Prevention of Postpartum Anxiety in High-Risk Women: A Proof-of-Concept Randomized Clinical Trial

The primary aim of this study is to evaluate whether a CBT group designed to target IU (CBT-IU) in pregnant women with heightened levels of IU, prevents postpartum anxiety. The investigators hypothesize that women with clinically significant IU during pregnancy will exhibit both significant reductions in IU, as well as a decrease in anxiety symptoms postpartum, compared to a treatment as usual control group. The secondary aim of this study is to evaluate whether CBT-IU significantly improves and/or prevents depression symptoms, worry symptom severity, and difficulties with emotion regulation. The investigators hypothesize that CBT-IU will lead to significant improvements in symptom severity compared to the treatment as usual control group.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Anxiety disorders are a serious mental health concern, affecting as many as 15-24% of women during the perinatal period. Despite the high prevalence of anxiety during the perinatal period and its associated impact, fewer than 15% of women receive treatment often due to difficulties in timely and accurate symptom detection. Our group conducted a longitudinal study that investigated the psychosocial and biological risk factors of postpartum anxiety worsening in a sample of high-risk pregnant women with pre-existing anxiety and depressive disorders. In this study, intolerance of uncertainty (IU) was identified as the strongest predictor. IU is a cardinal trait of anxiety and has been implicated in predicting treatment response in non-perinatal populations. However, despite the relevance of IU in anxiety disorders, our study was the first to assess IU in the perinatal population. As improving symptom detection through identification of significant risk factors, such as IU, can aid in the development of preventative and treatment measures, our group recently validated the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS) in a perinatal population for the detection of anxiety disorders. In this study of 198 perinatal women, the IUS demonstrated excellent internal consistency and an optimal clinical cut-off score of 64 or greater was established, yielding a sensitivity of 89%. The IUS also demonstrated very good positive (79%) and negative (80%) predictive values. These findings suggest that the IUS represents a clinically useful screening tool to be used as an aid for the early and accurate detection of anxiety disorders during the perinatal period. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is considered a first-line treatment for perinatal anxiety disorders and CBT programs targeting IU have revealed promising findings in non-perinatal populations.It is therefore imperative to investigate whether a treatment program specifically designed to target IU during pregnancy can prevent postpartum anxiety.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
30

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Melissa Furtado, MSc, PhD (candidate)
  • Phone Number: 36369 905-522-1155
  • Email: mfurtado@stjoes.ca

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Sheryl M. Green, PhD, CPsych
  • Phone Number: 33672 905-522-1155
  • Email: sgreen@stjoes.ca

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
        • Recruiting
        • St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
        • Contact:
          • Sheryl M Green, PhD, CPsych

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant women (up to 30 weeks pregnant to allow for completion of the CBT-IU protocol before child delivery)
  • 18 years or older
  • Baseline score of ≥64 on the IUS (Furtado et al., 2021)
  • No psychotropic medication or, if taking medication, no change in dose or type for a minimum of 6 weeks prior to baseline
  • No concurrent psychological treatment
  • Fluent in English and able to consent for treatment
  • Located in Ontario, Canada

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A current diagnosed DSM-5 anxiety disorder, as assessed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (version 7.0.2)
  • Active suicidal ideation
  • Current psychosis or substance use disorder
  • For those enrolled on a stable dosage of a psychotropic medication, if a change in medication is required during the psychological therapy trial, the participant will continue with the therapy but will be excluded from the analysis.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
No Intervention: Treatment as Usual
Experimental: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Other: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy targeting Intolerance of Uncertainty

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of participants with principal anxiety disorder (as per DSM-5)
Time Frame: 6-12 weeks postpartum
Postpartum anxiety prevention will be defined as whether participants meet provisional DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder at the post-treatment assessments.
6-12 weeks postpartum

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Sheryl M Green, PhD, CPsych, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 1, 2022

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 1, 2024

Study Completion (Anticipated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 10, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 10, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 19, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 14, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 11, 2023

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 13902

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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