Comparing the Effectiveness of Internet Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Drug Therapy for Treating Postpartum Depression and Children Weight Gain: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common psychiatric disorder with a prevalence rate of 10 - 15%. Postpartum depression may have significant adverse effects on infants’ growth and development and mothers’ health status. Virtual cognitive behavior therapy (VCBT) has been introduced as a new therapeutic method. Objectives: The current study was carried out to determine the effect of VCBT versus conventional medical therapy in PPD subjects. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial conducted in 2020 in the postpartum ward of Ziaeean Hospital, 102 women with singleton delivery within one week diagnosed with PPD (Edinburgh questionnaire score of over 9) were randomly considered to receive either medical treatment (sertraline 50 mg/day) or VCBT (training for controlling and confronting depression through social media five days a week for four months) groups. Postpartum depression and infants’ weight were compared at delivery, in the second month, and at the end of the study. Results: According to repeated-measures ANOVA, Edinburgh’s depression scale score did not differ significantly between the groups (P > 0.05), whereas their children’s weight differed significantly between the groups (P = 0.041). The VCBT group showed a better weight gain than those subjected to conventional medical treatment. Conclusions: In this study, there was no significant difference between cognitive behavioral therapy based on virtual content and drug treatment in postpartum healing and the improvement of children’s weight index at two and four months old. Both groups were improved. However, children’s weight gain at four months of age was higher in the group treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy based on virtual content than in the drug-treated group. This suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy based on virtual content, due to the increased awareness of mothers and behavioral changes, may be helpful, especially for women with postpartum depression with low-birth-weight children. This method can be applied in a flexible treatment manner for all women with postpartum depression, which will make women more involved in treatment, and the barriers to their treatment will be greatly eradicated.