2007 |
Bennett, Shannon M |
F31Activity Code Description: To provide predoctoral individuals with supervised research training in specified health and health-related areas leading toward the research degree (e.g., Ph.D.). |
Cognitive Behavioral Intervention For Pathologic Perinatal Grief
[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The immediate goal of the research study proposed for this fellowship is to develop, deliver and pilot, through a multiple baseline experimental design, a cognitive-behaviorally based intervention for women experiencing functionally impairing symptoms of grief following a perinatal loss. The components of the eight-session intervention are based on empirically supported cognitive behavioral intervention techniques for trauma, anxiety, depression and loss; however, each session is tailored to address the unique sequelae of the perinatal loss experience. To test the efficacy of this intervention nine women who experience perinatal loss at one of four hospitals in the Boston area will be recruited and randomized to either a two-week, four-week, or six-week baseline period before initiating the active treatment phase of the study. These women will be assessed at specific intervals (pre-baseline, pre-treatment, during treatment, post-treatment, and at 6-weeks post-treatment) to track symptom severity and course, as well as treatment adherence and satisfaction. As is standard practice with a multiple baseline research design, visual inspection techniques will be employed to analyze the data. It is expected that women who participate in the trial of the proposed intervention will display significant improvement in reported symptomatology and functional improvement in day-to-day life, as well as an increase in perceived social support, increased posttraumatic growth, increased use of adaptive coping strategies and decreased use of maladaptive coping strategies. Additionally, these changes will be functionally and experimentally related to the intervention compared to varying baseline periods of time both within and between subjects, during which measures will be administered repeatedly without active intervention. The opportunity to conduct this research, and receive the support, guidance, and training of esteemed mentors and an expert multi-disciplinary, collaborative team, will aid in the eventual achievement of long term goals, including conducting a randomized, controlled trial of such an intervention; disseminating brief, efficacious, affordable interventions through public health venues; and, affecting therapeutic change in understudied populations and family systems struggling with trauma and loss. The multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaborations in place from previous perinatal loss research efforts by the applicant will assist with treatment development, subject recruitment, intervention delivery, and analyses aimed at determining the extent of symptom reduction and improved functioning following participation. The feasibility and utility of the proposed intervention will be examined and the treatment will be refined accordingly for subsequent investigations, such as in a randomized, controlled trial. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]
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