Abstract
Infertility is strongly associated with depression, yet treatment research for depressed infertile women is sparse. This study
tested for the first time the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), the evidence-based
antidepressant intervention with the greatest peripartum research support, as treatment for depressed women facing fertility
problems. Patients who met DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder of at least moderate severity were randomized to
either 12 sessions of IPT (n = 15) or brief supportive psychotherapy (BSP; n = 16), our control intervention. Eighty percent of IPT and 63 % of BSP patients completed the 12 sessions of therapy. Patients
in both treatments improved. IPT produced a greater response rate than BSP, with more than two-thirds of women achieving a
>50 % reduction in scores on the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). IPT also tended to have lower posttreatment
scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale, and anxiety subscale of the Hamilton Depression
Rating Scale, with between-group effect sizes ranging from 0.61 to 0.76. Gains persisted at 6-month follow-up. This pilot
trial suggests that IPT is a promising treatment for depression in the context of infertility and that it may fare better
than a rigorous active control condition. Should subsequent randomized controlled trials support these findings, this will
inform clinical practice and take an important step in assuring optimal care for depressed women struggling with infertility.
tested for the first time the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), the evidence-based
antidepressant intervention with the greatest peripartum research support, as treatment for depressed women facing fertility
problems. Patients who met DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder of at least moderate severity were randomized to
either 12 sessions of IPT (n = 15) or brief supportive psychotherapy (BSP; n = 16), our control intervention. Eighty percent of IPT and 63 % of BSP patients completed the 12 sessions of therapy. Patients
in both treatments improved. IPT produced a greater response rate than BSP, with more than two-thirds of women achieving a
>50 % reduction in scores on the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). IPT also tended to have lower posttreatment
scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale, and anxiety subscale of the Hamilton Depression
Rating Scale, with between-group effect sizes ranging from 0.61 to 0.76. Gains persisted at 6-month follow-up. This pilot
trial suggests that IPT is a promising treatment for depression in the context of infertility and that it may fare better
than a rigorous active control condition. Should subsequent randomized controlled trials support these findings, this will
inform clinical practice and take an important step in assuring optimal care for depressed women struggling with infertility.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Article
- Pages 1-9
- DOI 10.1007/s00737-012-0277-z
- Authors
- Diana Koszycki, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, 145 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Jean-Claude Bisserbe, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Pierre Blier, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Jacques Bradwejn, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- John Markowitz, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Journal Archives of Women’s Mental Health
- Online ISSN 1435-1102
- Print ISSN 1434-1816