JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Postpartum anxiety (PPA) is a common condition that can have significant negative implications for the wellbeing of mothers and babies. Compared to postpartum depression (PPD), PPA has been understudied and is much less frequently screened for. Moreover, there is a deficit of trained therapists and perinatal mental health care which limits the available treatment for PPA. Mobile app delivery of therapeutic interventions has shown high potential for treating mood and anxiety disorders; however the digital interventions for perinatal mental health are often low in quality and focused on PPD.

Objective:

This pilot study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of momLamp, a mobile app-based intervention for PPA.

Methods:

Over 8 weeks, 10 postpartum women with a score of ≥ 26 on the Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS) were prompted to complete a daily module incorporating evidence-based CBT and ACT-driven psychoeducation, tools, and skill building. Participants completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at the beginning and end of the study and the PASS weekly. Feasibility was measured by analyzing participants’ app engagement while acceptability was determined via descriptive analysis of participants’ responses to an end-of-study survey. Exploratory analyses of anxiety and depression scores were conducted using paired sample t-tests.

Results:

On average, participants completed 44.9 out of 56 possible modules (SD = 11.79) with at least 6 out of 10 participants completing 5 or more of their assigned modules in any given week. 9 out of 10 participants described the app as either “very helpful” or “somewhat helpful” and 10 out of 10 participants reported that using the app felt more positive than negative. All participants agreed that learning about PPA made them feel better about their own anxiety and would recommend the app as is or with minor tweaks. The average baseline PASS score was 52.2 (SD = 19.1, range 32-93), and the average post-intervention PASS score was 32.3 (SD = 13.70, range 16-55). This represents a decrease in the severity of anxiety from severe to mild or moderate. After removing outliers, the mean difference between pre- and post-intervention PASS scores was –17.75 (dz = -1.98, p = 0.002). The mean difference between pre- and post-intervention EPDS scores did not significantly decrease (dz = -0.63, p = 0.12).

Conclusions:

This pilot study found that the participants were highly engaged with the app, found it helpful, and would recommend it. Anxiety scores decreased over the course of this single-arm pilot. These preliminary results indicate that momLamp could serve as a useful additional intervention for PPA. Future research should focus on a larger study with a control group to confirm and quantify the efficacy of the intervention. Clinical Trial: N/A