Preventing Childbirth-Related PTSD With Expressive Writing
NCT ID: NCT05662423
Last Updated: 2025-12-26
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
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RECRUITING
NA
136 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2023-11-08
2026-01-31
Brief Summary
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In the days following childbirth, participants will be asked to write about their childbirth experience or a neutral event for three consecutive days, for around 15 minutes each day. Additionally, they will complete a short survey before and after the intervention about their birth experience and mental health. Around 2 months postpartum (with the option of up to around Month 3 PP), participants will take part in mental health and physiological assessments, and in a brief play session with their infant.
Detailed Description
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Currently, there is no recommended intervention for individuals exposed to traumatic childbirth in hospitals in the United States. Immediate postpartum interventions delivered to at-risk women that are low-cost, low-burden, and feasible are lacking. This study will attempt to fill this gap in effective treatment. Evidence shows that expressive writing (EW), or briefly disclosing in writing mainly thoughts and feelings about a highly stressful event, can have positive effects on mental and physical health. Therefore, the investigators will test the therapeutic effects of EW about recent childbirth in women at-risk for CB-PTSD.
Conditions
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Keywords
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
PREVENTION
DOUBLE
Study Groups
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Expressive Writing about Childbirth
Subgroup of participants will write about their recent childbirth.
Expressive Writing about Childbirth
Participants will write repeatedly about their deepest emotions and thoughts related to their recent childbirth, focusing on the most stressful experiences.
Neutral Writing
Subgroup of participants will write about neutral daily events.
Neutral Writing
Participants will write repeatedly about neutral daily events/tasks not related to childbirth.
Interventions
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Expressive Writing about Childbirth
Participants will write repeatedly about their deepest emotions and thoughts related to their recent childbirth, focusing on the most stressful experiences.
Neutral Writing
Participants will write repeatedly about neutral daily events/tasks not related to childbirth.
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Women who are at risk for developing CB-PTSD based on their scoring of \>16 on the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI).
Exclusion Criteria
* Stillbirth.
* Down's Syndrome, other serious genetic disorder in the newborn, or serious birth defect (e.g., microcephaly, spina bifida).
* Admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for more than 1 week or infant that is not medically healthy.
* Current diagnosable DSM-5 psychotic or bipolar disorder, or current substance abuse disorder.
* Active suicidality (assessed case by case).
* Present substance abuse as indicated in medical records.
* Severe maternal morbidity (assessed case by case).
* General anesthesia.
* Inability to understand the study procedures, risks, and side effects, or to otherwise give informed consent for participation due to neurological or other reasons.
* Inability to understand English.
18 Years
50 Years
FEMALE
Yes
Sponsors
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Massachusetts General Hospital
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Sharon Dekel, PhD
Assistant Professor in Psychology
Locations
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Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Countries
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Central Contacts
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Facility Contacts
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Sharon Dekel, Ph.D., M.Phil., M.S.
Role: primary
References
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Yildiz PD, Ayers S, Phillips L. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder in pregnancy and after birth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2017 Jan 15;208:634-645. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.10.009. Epub 2016 Oct 27.
Pennebaker JW. Expressive Writing in Psychological Science. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2018 Mar;13(2):226-229. doi: 10.1177/1745691617707315. Epub 2017 Oct 9.
Pennebaker JW. Putting stress into words: health, linguistic, and therapeutic implications. Behav Res Ther. 1993 Jul;31(6):539-48. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(93)90105-4.
Dekel S, Thiel F, Dishy G, Ashenfarb AL. Is childbirth-induced PTSD associated with low maternal attachment? Arch Womens Ment Health. 2019 Feb;22(1):119-122. doi: 10.1007/s00737-018-0853-y. Epub 2018 May 21.
Dekel S, Stuebe C, Dishy G. Childbirth Induced Posttraumatic Stress Syndrome: A Systematic Review of Prevalence and Risk Factors. Front Psychol. 2017 Apr 11;8:560. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00560. eCollection 2017.
Chan SJ, Thiel F, Kaimal AJ, Pitman RK, Orr SP, Dekel S. Validation of childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder using psychophysiological assessment. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2022 Oct;227(4):656-659. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2022.05.051. Epub 2022 May 29.
Dekel S, Ein-Dor T, Dishy GA, Mayopoulos PA. Beyond postpartum depression: posttraumatic stress-depressive response following childbirth. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2020 Aug;23(4):557-564. doi: 10.1007/s00737-019-01006-x. Epub 2019 Oct 25.
Berman Z, Thiel F, Dishy GA, Chan SJ, Dekel S. Maternal psychological growth following childbirth. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2021 Apr;24(2):313-320. doi: 10.1007/s00737-020-01053-9. Epub 2020 Jul 23.
Other Identifiers
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2022P003320
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id