Effects of a self-help program on depressed mood for women with an unfulfilled child wish

Kraaij, V.; Garnefski, N.; Fles, H.; Brands, A.; Tricht, S. van (2016)

Article / Letter to editor

This randomized controlled trial aimed to examine the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral self-help program (CBS) with minimal coaching in improving depressed mood for women with a permanent unfulfilled child wish. Participants completed pretest, posttest, and follow-up questionnaires and were randomly allocated to CBS (n = 27) or a waiting list condition (WLC, n =27). Respondents who followed the CBS improved significantly on depression scores compared to the WLC. This positive effect remained at follow-up. This study suggests that a low-resource, low-cost self-help program could be an effective intervention in reducing depressed mood in women living with the loss of a desired child.

• Depression, loss, psychological intervention, self-help program, unfulfilled child wish

• All authors: Kraaij, V.; Garnefski, N.; Fles, H.; Brands, A.; Tricht, S. van
• Date: 2016-02-16
• Journal: Journal of Loss and Trauma. International Perspectives on Stress & Coping
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 275 - 285
• DOI: doi:10.1080/15325024.2015.1057451
• Link: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15325024.2015.1057451