Internet-delivered Postpartum Anxiety Prevention (PPOD)

Development and Pilot Test of Internet-delivered Postpartum Anxiety Prevention

Postpartum anxiety disorders are the most prevalent postpartum psychiatric conditions. Up to 16% of mothers experience postpartum anxiety or related disorders, such as OCD. With respect to the investigator's own community, this means that up to 3,313 women in West Virginia may struggle with postpartum anxiety or OCD. Left untreated, perinatal anxiety and OCD are associated with numerous adverse outcomes, such as maternal depression, preterm birth, impaired fetal development, low birthweight, difficulty breastfeeding, anxiety in children, and interference with parent-infant bonding. Critically, anxiety is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and substance use disorders, both significant West Virginia health disparities. Thus, there is a critical need to develop effective and scalable prevention programs to address postpartum anxiety and OCD. The purpose of this proposed community-engaged study is to develop and test the feasibility, usability, and acceptability of an Internet-delivered postpartum anxiety and OCD prevention program, called "Preventing Postpartum Onset Distress", or P-POD.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Postpartum Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: P-POD

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 19
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Shari A Steinman, PhD; Phone Number: 3042931662; Email: shari.steinman@mail.wvu.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • West Virginia
    • Morgantown, West Virginia, United States, 26506
      • Life Sciences Building

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female
• Aged 18 or older
• Pregnant with first child
• Married or living with a partner
• State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Total ≥ 44 and/or Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-44 Total ≥ 139

Exclusion Criteria:

• past or current anxiety disorders
• past or current OCD
• past or current psychotic disorders
• past or current bipolar disorders
• past or current substance use disorders.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: P-POD; All participants will complete the prevention for postpartum onset distress (P-POD)

Behavioral: P-POD; . P-POD will include seven 30-minute online, educational, interactive modules that teach at-risk pregnant women skills derived from the gold standard, empirically supported cognitive-behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders and OCD. Additionally, P-POD will include three modules for fathers, to help them support their partners during the postpartum period. We will modify P-POD from an already existing in-person prevention program for postpartum OCD (developed by Co-Investigator Kiara Timpano). The m-health foundation of P-POD will be an already existing Internet-delivered treatment infrastructure (OurRelationship.com, developed by Co-Investigator Brian Doss).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait (STAI-Trait)	20-item self-report used to assess dispositional levels of anxiety. It is widely used, sensitive to treatment, has strong psychometric properties, and includes items that would be relevant to pregnant women. The STAI-Trait Total Score will be used before and after P-POD to assess change in prenatal trait anxiety. The STAI-Trait total score ranges from 20 to 80. Higher numbers represent more anxiety (worse outcome).	Change from Baseline to Week 10
Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ-44)	44-item self-report scale used to measure dysfunctional beliefs associated with anxiety and OCD symptoms. The OBQ-44 has strong psychometric properties and has demonstrated sensitivity to treatment with pregnant women. In the proposed study, the OBQ-44 Total Score will be administered before and after P-POD to assess change in dysfunctional beliefs. The OBQ-44 total score ranges from 44 to 308. Higher numbers represent more dysfunctional OCD beliefs (worse outcome).	Change from Baseline to Week 10

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: West Virginia University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 8, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 13, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): December 13, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 29, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 19, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): June 20, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 27, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 26, 2023
• Last Verified: April 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pregnancy Complications; Puerperal Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1710795361

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No