This week features new research that explores postpartum anxiety, insomnia, and what’s driving veteran suicide rates.
Prenatal Program Shows Preventive Potential
A new trial suggests that tackling intolerance of uncertainty could dramatically slash postpartum anxiety risk.
Published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the proof-of-concept study tested a six-week cognitive behavioral therapy protocol known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Intolerance of Uncertainty (CBT-IU).
Researchers from McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton enrolled more than three dozen pregnant participants between 14 and 32 weeks. All of them scored high on a standardized measure of intolerance of uncertainty. The researchers then randomly assigned participants to either a CBT-IU regimen or traditional care.
The results stunned the research team. None of the women who completed CBT-IU met diagnostic or provisional criteria for any anxiety disorder in the postpartum period, compared with nearly a third – 31.6% – of the control group.
The therapy group also showed notable reductions in worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and emotion dysregulation, and lower interviewer-rated anxiety scores. All of the participants added that they were satisfied with the treatment, and that they’d recommend it to others.
The findings reinforce the notion that intolerance of uncertainty remains a promising, modifiable risk factor for postpartum anxiety. The researchers acknowledge that the trial’s small size and limited demographic diversity make generalizations difficult.
Even so, the authors contend that these results justify larger studies to test whether targeting uncertainty during pregnancy could offer a simple, scalable path to safeguarding maternal mental health.
IN OTHER PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROLOGY NEWS
- The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders has published a case study that looks at the effects of clozapine on diphenhydramine dependence in a schizophrenia patient with schizophrenia.
- New JCP research offers fresh insight into what drives veterans to take their own lives.
- Another PCC case report covers an 80-year-old man receiving antiretroviral therapy for HIV who found himself struggling with insomnia.
- In a letter to JCP, a reader commends recent research for illuminating racial and cultural differences in women’s mental health treatment preferences.
- And, finally, you won’t want to miss the debut of “The JCP Podcast,” which includes a conversation with JCP editor-in-chief Marlene Freeman, MD.
