Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention on Depressive Symptoms and Sleep Quality among Postnatal Women

Abstract

Background: Postpartum period is associated with emotional disturbances with the tendency occurrence of post-partum depression and change in sleep quality. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been suggested as the primary line treatment for managing postnatal depression and it is also successful in dealing with post partum sleep problems. Aim: to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy intervention on depressive symptoms and sleep quality among postnatal women. Design: A quasi-experimental design was utilized. Setting: The study was conducted at three Maternal and Child Health Centers; three from ten health centers were selected by multistage random selection included; Shebin El-Kom (two centers) and Tala (one center) districts affiliated to Menoufia governorate, Egypt. Subjects: A purposive sample of 260 postpartum women selected from previous chosen settings. Instruments: three instruments were utilized included: An interviewing questionnaire contained; socio-demographic characteristics and current obstetric history of the studied women, The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Sleep Quality Scale. Results: 81.5% of studied women suffer from possible depressive symptoms (risk for depression) in pre intervention, decreased to 53.5% in post intervention with statistical significance differences between pre and post intervention p =.000. Furthermore, there were statistical significance improvements in the levels of sleep quality among studied women p =.000 as evidenced by, 23.1% of studied women with severe sleep problem in pre intervention, decreased to 8.4% in post intervention as a consequence of intervention; 35.7% of studied women with mild sleep problem in pre intervention improved to 51.2% in post intervention. In addition, there was negative correlation between total score of depressive symptoms and sleep quality after cognitive behavioral therapy intervention. Conclusion: Cognitive behavioral therapy was an effective maneuver in reducing the symptoms of postpartum depression and improves sleep quality in postnatal women. Recommendation: Health education intervention based on preventive CBT should be provided to postnatal women to deal effectively with changes in sleep quality and manage depressive symptoms associated with postpartum period.