The Impact of a Mindfulness App on Postnatal Distress

Abstract

Objectives The present study investigated the effectiveness of an 8-week mindfulness mobile phone app on women’s depression, anxiety, stress and mindful attention/awareness in the postnatal period. Methods The study enrolled 99 mothers of a child under 1 year old, and randomly assigned them to intervention (n = 49, mean age = 31.11, SD = 4.30, years) and control (n = 50, mean age = 31.35, SD = 5.29, years) groups. Multiple regression examined intervention effects on depression, anxiety, stress and mindful attention/awareness measured post-intervention and at 4-week follow-up, controlling for the baseline and post-intervention measurement of the specific outcome, respectively. Results The intervention group showed significant decreases in depression, anxiety and stress levels and an increase of mindful attention/awareness post-intervention compared to the control group, with medium to large effect sizes after controlling for effects of corresponding variables at baseline. The intervention group showed further decrease in depression and stress levels and an increase in mindful attention/awareness at 4 weeks post-intervention compared to the control group, with small to medium effect sizes, after controlling for effects of corresponding variables at post-intervention. Conclusions The outcomes of the study suggest that delivery of mindfulness via smartphones could be a viable and affordable resource for reducing postnatal depression, anxiety and stress.

An evaluation of digital intervention for perinatal depression and anxiety: A systematic review

“…For the 12 RCTs, the assessment periods ranged from a few months up to two years. Interestingly, some studies with a larger sample size had relatively shorter study periods compared to those with a smaller sample size [24] – [29] . The duration of the interventions also varied, with most studies conducting assessments at three time points [24] , [27] , [30] – [32] .…”

“…Interestingly, some studies with a larger sample size had relatively shorter study periods compared to those with a smaller sample size [24] – [29] . The duration of the interventions also varied, with most studies conducting assessments at three time points [24] , [27] , [30] – [32] . The remaining studies conducted assessments twice [26] , [29] , [33] , [34] , four times [28] , and up to five times [23] , [25] between the baseline and the end of the study period.…”

“…Only two studies included antenatal persons with both depression and anxiety [29] , [31] . Two studies focused on healthy postnatal persons [23] , [24] , and two focused on postnatal persons with depression [27] , [34] .…”

Smartphone-based intervention for postpartum depressive symptoms (Smart-e-Moms): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…To address these structural, societal, and individual barriers, internet-based interventions (IBIs) have emerged as a recognized and easily accessible means of providing specialized therapeutic care to women with the potential to both prevent and treat postpartum depressive symptoms [ 19 – 21 ]. IBIs targeting PPD commonly use evidence-based treatment elements, such as CBT techniques including behavioral activation and cognitive restructuring [ 22 – 24 ], psychoeducational components [ 24 – 26 ], and mindfulness and self-compassion practices [ 24 , 27 , 28 ].…”

Brief Virtual Reality Mindfulness is More Effective than Audio Mindfulness and Colouring in Reducing Stress in University Students

“…These digital interventions can increase accessibility, as the tracks can be played at any time, and allow the standardisation of the intervention with a highly skilled individual directing participants through the mindful practises (Mrazek et al, 2019). Several studies have confirmed the effectiveness of audio mindfulness in the improvement of subjective wellbeing (e.g., Bear et al, 2022;Keng et al, 2022); however, significant within-group differences in perceived stress and difficulties in sustaining engagement are often reported (Huberty et al, 2019).…”