Evaluating Depressive Symptomatology, Maternal Loneliness, and Maternal Self-Esteem in Mothers Who Attend a New Moms Peer Support Group

Abstract

Emerging Knowledge for Clinical Practice Podium Presentations focusing on the Research Agenda Priority of Mental Health, Presented at the 38th National NAPNAP Conference on Pediatric Health Care, March 17, 2017, Denver, CO. The purpose of this project was to compare depressive symptomatology, loneliness, and self-esteem between mothers who did and mothers who did not attend an existing peer support group in a large urban pediatric office between 8- and 12-weeks postpartum. Postpartum depression is the most common form of morbidity after delivery with an estimated prevalence of 13% (O'Hara & Swain, 1996). The etiology of postpartum depression remains unclear, with identified risk factors including: life stress, child-care stress, marital conflict, low maternal self-esteem, and lack of social support (Dennis, 2003). Research shows that a lack of social support is a significant predictor of postpartum depression (Dennis, 2014), and mothers with a higher perceived level of loneliness are more likely to experience depressive symptomatology postpartum (Nielsen Forman, Videbech, Hedegaard, Dalby Salvig, & Secher, 2000). Do women who attend New Mom's Coffee (NMC), a peer support group for mothers offered by a pediatric clinic, experience lower rates of depressive symptomatology, less loneliness, and higher levels of self-esteem than mothers who do not attend the group? A quasi-experimental project was conducted at a large outpatient practice in western Pennsylvania using a non-randomized two-group post-test comparison design. The sample included mothers who attended NMC (n=21) and mothers with children in the practice that did not attend NMC (n=12). The project was approved by the physician-owner of the practice and the Human Research Protection Office at the university determined that the study qualified for expedited IRB review. Mothers who agreed to participate in the intervention group were asked to attend NMC at least once a week from 8- through 12-weeks postpartum. Participants completed demographic data 8-weeks postpartum, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale at 8- and 12-weeks postpartum. A chi-square analysis evaluated differences between intervention and comparison groups for each of these instruments from 8- to 12 weeks. Student t-tests were used to compare the differences in scores of each scale between groups. Groups were comparable in age, education, ethnicity, marital status and household income. There was a decrease in the EPDS scores in both groups with a greater decrease in the intervention group than the comparison group: 27.6% and 9.8% respectively (P=0.653). There was a statistically significant decrease in the loneliness score of the intervention group (6.4%) in contrast with an 11.7% increase in the comparison group (P=0.033). The difference in the self-esteem score was statistically significant with a 4.4% increase in the intervention group and a 3.2% decrease in the comparison group (P=0.045). NMC offers peer support for new mothers. The partnership between the pediatricians' office and NMC enables the care provider to screen first time mothers for postpartum depression and educate them about the potential benefits of attending NMC. This project may contribute to adoption of this disease prevention strategy to prevent postpartum depression through use of peer support groups in the outpatient pediatric setting.