Poor Sleep During Pregnancy as Risk Factor for Post-partum Stress and Mental Health
Poor Sleep During Pregnancy as Risk Factor for Post-partum Stress and Mental Health: A Translational, Longitudinal and Clinical Study. Maternal Outcome After THERapy for Sleep (MOTHERS)
University of Rome G. Marconi
114 participants
May 6, 2024
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
Improving maternal mental health is a worldwide health priority. Nevertheless, several scientific sources highlighted lack of empirical data which could drive clinical practice. The present project addresses psychobiological mechanisms leading to peripartum mental disorders. It focuses on one key risk factor for psychopathology, which is poor sleep continuity. The project aims to describe the link between maternal poor sleep quality and the cascade of events which may enhance vulnerability to stress and risk for mental disorders and to evaluate the efficacy of an online automated psychological prenatal intervention directed to sleep problems in preventing these negative outcomes.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria5
- age ≥ 18 yrs. old;
- good knowledge of Italian language;
- intention to continue pregnancy;
- BMI ranging 18-30 (i.e., without underweight or obesity following international criteria; WHO, 2013);
- ≤ 15th week of pregnancy at the time of recruitment.
Exclusion Criteria4
- severe diagnosis of relevant somatic disorder;
- smoking;
- alcohol intake;
- assumption of illegal drugs;
Interventions
Weekly sessions include: a video clip (ca. 20 min) and a pdf; short questions on participants' experience related to the session's content; brief feedback questions on session's contents. Participants will have weekly opportunity for private online chats with a clinician. Sessions' contents: 1. Aims of the intervention; introducing the physiological regulation of sleep, sleep health and how sleep changes during pregnancy; 2. Psychological regulation of sleep and the impact of behaviors on sleep regulation; introducing the basics of CBT-I behavioral techniques; 3. Cognitive factors maintaining sleep difficulties; introducing cognitive techniques; 4. Emotional factors maintaining sleep difficulties and on the bidirectional association between sleep and emotions; introducing emotion regulation techniques; 5. Sleep in the postpartum and the development of sleep regulation in children; 6. Relapse prevention and focus on acquired skills and how to prioritize sleep.
Each session will include: video clip (ca. 20 minutes) on aspects related to pregnancy and sleep; brief feedback questions. Participants in the placebo intervention will not be given specific indications on skills or techniques for sleep difficulties and will not have access to the weekly chat with the clinician. Sessions will cover the following contents: Session 1: phases of pregnancy; Session 2: sleep disorders; Session 3: nutrition and physical activity during pregnancy; Session 4: childbirth; Session 5: psychophysical development of the child in the first three years of life; Session 6: synthesis of previous sessions.
Locations(2)
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NCT06379074