Click on one of the links below to read more about our current research projects. 

1. Placebo Controlled Trial of Sertraline and IPT for Postpartum Depression
2. Fundamentals of Interpersonal Psychotherapy
3. Play Study
4. Emotional Experiences of Women During Parenthood
5. Open Trial Determining Antidepressant Effects of Omega-3 Supplementation During Pregnancy
6. Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Women with Postpartum Depression
7. The Effects of Ovarian Hormone Withdrawal on Postpartum Mood Symptoms
8. The Effects of the Family Environment on Adolescent Mental Health and Behavior
9. Postnatal Yoga for Women’s Health
10. Patterns of Confiding in Romantic Relationships
11. The Confounding Role of Neuroticism in the Association Between Social Support and Depression
12. Explaining the Role of Maternal Personality and Psychopathology in Determining Parenting Behavior
13. Meta-Analysis Examining the Association between Maternal Depression and Child Temperament
14. The Effects of Maternal Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms on Infant Temperament
15. Listening Visits for Postpartum Depression

Placebo Controlled Trial of Sertraline and IPT for Postpartum Depression (ZIP)

The overall aim of this project is to determine the most efficacious treatment for women with PPD.  We plan to conduct a randomized clinical trial with 300 outpatients diagnosed with PPD.  The study is being conducted at Brown University as well as the University of Iowa.  We hypothesize that sertraline and IPT will both be superior to placebo over the course of the 12 week acute treatment trial, and that sertraline will be superior to IPT for the treatment of postpartum anxiety.

We are also planning secondary studies including an investigation of the impact of postpartum depression and treatment on infant psychophysiology; a genetics study of postpartum depression, and a secondary treatment study investigating mother-infant interventions.  We are currently recruiting for the study.

For more information about this project, please contact Scott Stuart, M.D., Research Director.

Fundamentals of Interpersonal Psychotherapy

The Fundamentals of Interpersonal Psychotherapy study is a two-phase project to develop an empirically validated internet-based training program in IPT.  On completion, therapists will be able to access an e-learning program which will provide interactive instruction in the entire course of IPT.  Phase I of the project, the development of an e-learning prototype, has been completed.  Development of the entire program (Phase II) is currently underway; during Phase II we recruited therapists from the community to provide feedback about the program and to participate in an investigation of knowledge retention and clinical usage of IPT comparing e-learning, instructor-led training, and self-instruction with a textbook.  Recruitment for Phase II has been completed.  The study is being conducted in partnership with Behavioral Tech in Seattle, Washington.

For more information about this project, please contact Scott Stuart, M.D., Research Director.

Play Study

The Play Study was developed in collaboration with Professor Grazyna Kochanska to examine children's moral development.  More specifically, the purpose of the study is to examine factors that affect children's moral development and children's response to an intervention designed to increase moral development.  The portion of the study conducted in the IDCRC includes interviews and questionnaires that examine maternal depression and related psychopathology. Data is collected at three time points: at the beginning of the intervention, directly following the intervention, and three months after the completion of the intervention.  We are interested in the effects of maternal psychopathology, and depression in particular, on children's moral development and intervention outcome.  This study is in the data collection phase, and participants are currently being interviewed.

For more information about this project, please contact Michael O'Hara, Ph.D., Research Director.

Emotional Experiences of Women During Parenthood

This longitudinal study is aimed at understanding the effects of maternal stress on new moms and their children. We are interested in how exposure to a natural disaster, such as the Iowa floods of 2008, influences the pregnancy and the child’s development. This study is in the data collection phase and we are currently conducting assessments of the children’s development at 30 months of age.

For more information about this project, please contact Michael O’Hara, Ph.D., Research Director.

Open Trial Determining Antidepressant Effects of Omega-3 Supplementation During Pregnancy

Past studies examining omega-3 fatty acid supplementation have described significant benefits, including potential antidepressant effects. Additionally, many women prefer to avoid treatment with traditional antidepressant medications during pregnancy.  The aim of this project is to learn more about the potential benefits of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation for women experiencing emotional difficulties during pregnancy. Participants will receive omega-3 supplements and monthly visits to monitor their mood free of charge through the Women’s Wellness and Counseling Service at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. We are currently recruiting for this study.

For more information about this project, please contact Scott Stuart, M.D., Research Director.

Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Women with Postpartum Depression

In an effort to address access-to-care issues, researchers at Oregon Research Institute (ORI) have developed a web-based intervention for women with postpartum depression. The Iowa Depression and Clinical Research Center is working with ORI to determine the feasibility of this online program. Participants will have the opportunity to use the 6-week online treatment program free of charge and will be asked to complete follow-up phone interviews at 3- and 6-months post-treatment. Recruitment for this study will begin in June 2011.

For more information about this project, please contact Scott Stuart, M.D., Research Director.

The Effects of Ovarian Hormone Withdrawal on Postpartum Mood Symptoms

This study examines the influence of the ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone on mood and anxiety symptoms during the end of pregnancy and the beginning of the postpartum period. Pregnant women with a history of postpartum depression and women who have never been depressed were recruited from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic to participate in this study. We are interested in the increased sensitivity to changing ovarian hormones that some women experience and whether the presence of an increased sensitivity to ovarian hormones can be used to predict the onset of postpartum depression. We hope that the results of this study will contribute to efforts to prevent and treat postpartum depression. Data collection has ended and results are currently being analyzed and prepared for publication.

For more information about this project, please contact Crystal Edler Schiller, M.A.

The Effects of the Family Environment on Adolescent Mental Health and Behavior

Adolescence is a period of development characterized by increased insight into the family environment, responsibilities inside and outside the home, burgeoning capabilities to influence the family environment, and legal/social consequences due to misbehavior.  In reviewing the pertinent literature, four major models emerged to explain the association between interparental conflict and adolescent outcome: cognitive-contextual framework, triangulation model, spillover hypothesis, and depression/interparental conflict model.  The primary purpose of this longitudinal study is to create and examine an integrative model that considers the multiple pathways between interparental conflict and adolescent internalizing and externalizing through key mediational mechanisms of the four models above.  Adolescents (13 – 17 years old) and their parents (two-parent households) are being recruited. Measures of the interparental relationship, parent-adolescent relationship, and parent/adolescent mood and behavior are completed by the mother, father, and target adolescent child at three time points that are three months apart.

For more information about this project, please contact Sheehan Fisher, M.A.

Postnatal Yoga for Women’s Health

This study examines the role of yoga as an alternative treatment for improving women’s health in the postpartum period. Depressed postpartum women will be recruited from the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics and the local Iowa community to participate in a randomized controlled trial examining the effects of an 8-week postnatal yoga program on reducing symptoms of depression from pre- to post-treatment, relative to a wait-list control condition. Secondary aims include the effects of yoga on reducing symptoms of anxiety, and improving health-related quality of life and social functioning at post-intervention, relative to the wait-list control condition. The results of this study will contribute to the increasing empirical base for yoga’s therapeutic benefits, as well as to the literature on complementary and alternative medicine treatment options for postpartum depression. 

For more information about this project, please contact Melissa M. Buttner, M.A.

Patterns of Confiding in Romantic Relationships

The Depth and Breadth of Confiding Index (DBCI) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure to extent to which a respondent discusses a variety of problems and concerns with another individual. The present study is designed for the purposes of developing and validating the DBCI and, in doing so, examine the factor structure of confiding topics.
For more information about this project, please contact J Austin Williamson.

The Confounding Role of Neuroticism in the Association Between Social Support and Depression

I am currently conducting a meta-analytic path analysis designed to achieve precise estimates of the associations between various types of social support and depression and to further examine the role of neuroticism as a confound in each of these associations.

For more information about this project, please contact J Austin Williamson.

Explaining the Role of Maternal Personality and Psychopathology in Determining Parenting Behavior

This project utilizes meta-analytic path-analysis to examine the role of personality traits in explaining the association between maternal psychopathology and parenting behaviors.

For more information about this project, please contact Jennifer McCabe. 

Meta-Analysis Examining the Association between Maternal Depression and Child Temperament

This project is a meta-analysis of the association between maternal depression and child temperament.  Within this meta-analysis, variables which may moderate the association between maternal depression and child temperament are examined (e.g., timing of maternal depression). 

For more information about this project, please contact Jennifer McCabe. 

The Effects of Maternal Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms on Infant Temperament

This study will examine the effects of traumatic stress symptoms during pregnancy on women and their infants.  Specifically, we are interested in finding whether these symptoms affect a woman's health behaviors and the behavior and temperament of her infant.  Questionnaires will be administered 7-10 days after delivery and 3 months postpartum.  We are currently recruiting for this study.  
For more information about this project, please contact Rebecca Grekin, B.A.

Listening Visits

Listening Visits are an empirically supported depression treatment developed for delivery by public health nurses in the U.K.  To address the pervasive treatment barriers to among U.S. ethnic-minority and low income women, in 2005 the British trainer of Listening Visits provided a training workshop for the VNS home visitors, and Listening Visits were subsequently offered by VNS home visitors as one treatment option for women with mild to moderate depressive symptoms.  From 2007 to 2009, an open trial study evaluated the effectiveness of this intervention here in a U.S. social service setting.  The results were promising: showing decreased depressive scores and acceptability among this group of women.  Dr. Segre is currently conducting two evaluations of Listening Visits: (1) a randomized controlled trial of community-based Listening Visits with low-income women, and (2) an open trial evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of Listening Visits as delivered by neonatal nurse practitioners to depressed mothers of infants hospitalized on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
For more information about these projects, please  contact  Lisa Segre, Ph.D.