Increasing Access to Behavioral Treatment for Perinatal Depression

Northwestern University At Chicago, Evanston IL

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT Dr. Leiszle Lapping-Carr is a licensed clinical psychologist and mixed methods researcher with a specialty in behavioral treatments for perinatal mental health. Through the proposed Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) entitled Increasing Access to Behavioral Treatment for Perinatal Depression, she will develop into an independent researcher working to address imbalances in perinatal mental health by broadening the availability of effective, non-pharmacological perinatal mental health interventions . Dr. Lapping-Carr will use this award to receive specific training in 1) community-engaged research; 2) intervention adaptation frameworks and processes; 3) implementation science; and 4) clinical trial design. This focus on intervention adaptation and implementation will allow her to fill gaps in her training enabling transition into an independent researcher. Her future research program will be focused on improving mental and reproductive health for new parents through mixed methods, community-engaged research to develop, evaluate, and implement effective behavioral interventions relevant to all demographics. Additionally, future work will include the development of clinician training programs to increase capacity to meet new parents’ mental health needs with behavioral interventions. Dr. Lapping-Carr will achieve these career goals through a career development plan including didactic training, mentored research experiences, direct community-based research experience, attendance at local, national, and international scientific meetings, and utilization of institutional resources. Her outstanding mentorship team includes Lead Mentor Darius Tandon, PhD and Co-Mentors Lori Ross, PhD (Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Methodology) and Michael Newcomb, PhD (Community-Based Health Research). Dr. Lapping-Carr’s research strategy incorporates two distinct studies as part of applying a systematic intervention adaptation framework that will help her to achieve the training goals described above. Specific Aim 1 will use qualitative interviews to identify determinants of perinatal wellbeing among new parents and describe experiences with and unmet needs in perinatal mental healthcare. Specific Aim 2 will involve the incorporation of themes identified through the qualitative study in Aim 1 to adapt an evidence-based behavioral intervention for the prevention of perinatal depression to be sensitive to the needs of all new parents. Specific Aim 3 will pilot the adapted intervention to evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy. With the experience and results of these studies, Dr. Lapping-Carr will be poised to pursue an R01 grant through NIMHD to conduct a large-scale clinical trial that examines the efficacy and effectiveness of the adapted preventive behavioral intervention for perinatal depression. This focus on community-engaged adaptation and evaluation of behavioral interventions with new parents will allow Dr. Lapping-Carr to advance the field of perinatal mental health and increase access to behavioral treatments for all new parents through her research and mentorship of graduate students.