Studies of Mothers With Postnatal Depression

University College, London60 enrolled

Overview

This study investigates the effects of a single dose of oxytocin (OT) delivered via a nasal spray in women with and without traits of postnatal depression (PND).

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, case-controlled, randomised controlled-trial, within-subjects, cross-over design will be conducted. Participants will include mothers and their infant in the postnatal period. All participants will be screened for symptoms of low mood on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and then assigned into 2 groups comprising probable PND cases and controls. All participants will take part in 3 conditions at Baseline (before nasal spray administration), Condition 1 (after first OT/Placebo administration) and Condition 2 (after second OT/Placebo administration), and will complete the same order of tasks.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Postnatal Depression

Interventions

OT administrationOTHER

OT nasal administration

Placebo administrationOTHER

Placebo nasal administration

Eligibility

Sex: FEMALEMin age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * All mothers will be aged ≥18 years old. * Mothers in the clinical group will score above the clinical cut-off point on the EPDS. * Mothers in the control group will score below the clinical cut-off point on the EPDS. * Mothers must be able to read and write English at a level sufficient to complete study related assessments. Exclusion Criteria: * If the mother is younger than 18 or post-menopausal * If the pregnancy was a result of fertility treatment * If the mother is pregnant * If the mother has history of psychotic illness * If the mother is at risk of self-harm * If the mother is involved in other active drug trials

Locations (1)

University College London

London, UK, United Kingdom