A systematic review of clinical psychological guidance for perinatal mental health

BMC Psychiatry

Research

Lynsey Gregg¹  Jayne O’Brien²  Anja Wittkowski³ 

[1] The University of Manchester, School of Health Sciences, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK;The University of Manchester, School of Health Sciences, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK;Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, M25 3BL, Manchester, UK;The University of Manchester, School of Health Sciences, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK;Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, M25 3BL, Manchester, UK;The University of Manchester, Manchester Health Alliance Science Centre, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK;Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, 2nd Floor Zochonis Building, Brunswick Street, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK;Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, M13 9NQ, Manchester, UK;

关键词: Mothers;    Women;    Parents;    Mental health;    Guidelines;    Psychosocial;    Therapy;    Intervention;    Assessment;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-023-05173-1

 received in 2023-03-27, accepted in 2023-09-08,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundGuidelines on psychological and/or psychosocial assessment and intervention in the perinatal period can provide beneficial practice guidance for healthcare professions to reduce maternal distress and potential mortality. As little is known about the similarities in recommendations across guidelines, which could impact the quality of therapeutic intervention women receive, this systematic review was conducted to draw out the consistent guidance for perinatal psychological and/or psychosocial therapeutic input.MethodEight literature and two guideline databases were searched alongside guideline development institutions, and organisations of maternity or perinatal mental health care. All relevant guidance was searched for and extracted before guideline quality was assessed using the AGREE-II instrument. Included guidelines had a primary or secondary focus on psychological assessment and therapeutic intervention for perinatal mental health difficulties. Using a narrative synthesis approach, recommendation consistencies and inconsistencies were outlined.ResultsFrom the 92 records screened, seven guidelines met the inclusion criteria. Only two guidelines were rated high (> 80%) across all assessed domains, with the other guidelines scoring between poor and excellent across domains. Highest rated domains across all seven guidelines were clarity of presentation (75%) and scope and purpose (70%). Recommendations for structured psychological assessment and intervention were most commonly reported in the guidelines; however, the level of detail and depth of information varied across guidelines. Whilst assessment and intervention recommendations for mother-infant dyad and partners were considered, research into working therapeutically with these client groups in perinatal mental health services is only just emerging. Hence, guideline recommendations for working with the mother-infant dyad and partners were based on consensus of expert opinion.ConclusionPerinatal mental health guidelines were consistent in scope but showed considerable variability in quality and depth of recommendations, which could have implications for standards of clinical practice. However, there is still a need to improve the evidence underpinning recommendations in perinatal mental health guidelines to advance the implementation of psychological and/or psychosocial interventions. High quality interventions in the perinatal period could improve outcomes for women and their families.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 1