Be a Mom, a Web-Based Intervention to Promote Positive Mental Health Among Postpartum Women With Low Risk for Postpartum Depression: Exploring Psychological Mechanisms of Change

Fabiana Monteiro, Marco Pereira, Maria Cristina Canavarro, Ana Fonseca, Fabiana Monteiro, Marco Pereira, Maria Cristina Canavarro, Ana Fonseca

Abstract

Background: This study explored whether Be a Mom, a brief and unguided cognitive behavioral web-based intervention, was effective in promoting psychological processes (self-compassion, psychological flexibility, emotion regulation) among low-risk postpartum women. Effects of Be a Mom in psychological processes compared with a control group were examined at post-intervention and at 4-months follow-up. Additionally, this work explored whether changes in psychological processes mediated improvements in positive mental health at postintervention. Methods: In total, 367 postpartum women presenting low risk for postpartum depression were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 191) or to a waiting-list control group (n = 176). Results: Compared with the control group, the intervention group reported significantly greater baseline to postintervention increases in self-compassion. No significant effects were found at the 4-month follow-up. Multilevel mediation showed that self-compassion improvements significantly mediated improvements in positive mental health among the intervention group. No significant results were found for psychological flexibility or emotion regulation. Conclusions: This study suggests that Be a Mom has the potential to cultivate self-compassion among low-risk postpartum women and that this may be a key mechanism for promoting positive mental health in this context. Clinical Trial Registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: NCT04055974.

Keywords: multilevel mediation; positive mental health; postpartum period; randomized controlled trial; self-compassion; web-based intervention.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Copyright © 2021 Monteiro, Pereira, Canavarro and Fonseca.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustration of the multilevel mediation model. Path a represents the effect of time on the process variable. Path b represents the change in the process variable when positive mental health changes with one unit when time is held constant. Path c′ represents the direct effect of time on positive mental health when controlling for the effect of changes in the process variable. Path a*b represents the within-group indirect effect of time on positive mental health represented by changes in the process variable.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flowchart of the participants in the study.

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