A controlled trial of a psychoeducation intervention in reducing depression among parents

Generally, this study aims to scientifically evaluate the effectiveness of psychoeducation as an intervention for reducing depressive symptoms among parents around Kuala Lumpur. It also examines the relationship between the socio-demographic factors and the severity of depression among parents as well as the numerous factors associated with depression among the studied population. This study convoluted two phases of intervention which were pre and post, and for the intervention group, a modified version of the family module intervention was given to test the efficacy of the psychoeducation intervention. A total of 61 participants were recruited from four Peoples' Housing Project in Kuala Lumpur. Thirty of them were randomly assigned to the control group and another 31 were assigned to the intervention group. Based on the analysis, there was a mere difference between the mean score of depression and daily hassle due to parenting between both groups during the post-intervention. Overall findings clearly denote that the family module intervention is an effective intervention in reducing depressive symptoms and parenting daily hassles among the parents in two phases as well as improving mental health literacy among parents.