Steudte-Schmiedgen Susann, Bergunde Luisa, Frohberg Julia, Bittner Antje, Coenen Anne, Garthus-Niegel Susan, Junge-Hoffmeister Juliane, Weidner Kerstin
Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany.
Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany.
Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2025 Apr-Jun;25(2):100587. doi: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2025.100587. Epub 2025 Jun 11.
Postpartum mental disorders are highly prevalent with substantial impact on mother-child bonding and child development. While short-term benefits of an interaction-focused mother-baby treatment for maternal mental health are documented, little is known about the stability of these effects and their influence on child behavioural development.
This prospective study included 348 women with postpartum mental disorders who received dyadic treatment at a specialized mother-baby day clinic. Maternal symptoms of depression (EPDS), anxiety (STAI-T), overall psychological distress (BSI-GSI) as well as parenting sense of competence (PSOC) were assessed at admission, discharge, and 1-year follow-up, along with diagnostic classification at admission. At 1-year follow-up, mothers ( = 164) completed the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) to measure child behavioural problems.
Maternal psychopathology and PSOC improved significantly from admission to discharge, with clinically meaningful effects. No additional improvements emerged from discharge to 1-year follow-up, except for a tentative reduction in anxiety symptoms. All outcome measures and outcome trajectories regarding anxiety symptoms and overall psychological distress varied by primary clinical diagnosis. Greater maternal symptom improvement from admission to 1-year follow-up was associated with fewer child behavioural problems. However, this effect was not found for symptom changes from admission to discharge when controlling for maternal symptoms at 1-year follow-up.
Interaction-focused treatment in a mother-baby day clinic may be associated with clinically meaningful improvements in maternal mental health outcomes up to 1-year follow-up. These long-term improvements may also relate to less child behavioural problems. However, the absence of a waiting list control group warrants cautious interpretation of findings.
产后精神障碍非常普遍，对母婴联结和儿童发育有重大影响。虽然有文献记载了以互动为重点的母婴治疗对产妇心理健康的短期益处，但对于这些效果的稳定性及其对儿童行为发育的影响知之甚少。
这项前瞻性研究纳入了348名患有产后精神障碍的女性，她们在一家专门的母婴日间诊所接受了二元治疗。在入院、出院和1年随访时评估产妇的抑郁症状（爱丁堡产后抑郁量表）、焦虑症状（状态-特质焦虑量表）、总体心理困扰（症状自评量表-总症状指数）以及育儿胜任感，同时在入院时进行诊断分类。在1年随访时，母亲们（n = 164）完成了儿童行为量表以测量儿童行为问题。
从入院到出院，产妇的精神病理学和育儿胜任感有显著改善，具有临床意义。从出院到1年随访，除了焦虑症状略有减轻外，没有出现进一步的改善。所有关于焦虑症状和总体心理困扰的结局指标和结局轨迹因主要临床诊断而异。从入院到1年随访，产妇症状改善越大，儿童行为问题越少。然而，在控制1年随访时的产妇症状后，未发现从入院到出院的症状变化有此效果。
在母婴日间诊所进行以互动为重点的治疗可能与长达1年随访的产妇心理健康结局的临床意义改善相关。这些长期改善也可能与较少的儿童行为问题有关。然而，由于缺乏等待名单对照组，对研究结果的解释需谨慎。
