One-Day Peer-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Based Workshops for Postpartum Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Abstract
Introduction: Myriad treatment barriers prevent birthing parents with postpartum depression (PPD) from receiving timely treatment. We aimed to determine whether a peer-delivered online 1-day cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based workshop added to treatment as usual (TAU) improves PPD and its comorbidities and is more cost-effective than TAU alone. Methods: This parallel-group, randomized controlled trial took place in Ontario, Canada (June 7, 2021, to February 18, 2022). Participants were ≥18 years old, had an infant ≤12 months old, and an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score ≥10. Participants were allocated to receive the workshop plus TAU (n = 202) or TAU and waitlisted to complete the workshop 12 weeks later (n = 203). The primary outcome was change in PPD (EPDS score) from enrollment to 12 weeks later. The secondary outcome was cost-effectiveness and tertiary outcomes included anxiety, social support, partner relationship quality, the mother-infant relationship, parenting stress, and infant temperament. Results: Participants had a mean age of 32.3 years (SD = 4.30) and 65% were White. The workshop led to a significant reduction in EPDS scores (15.95–11.37; d = 0.92, p < 0. 01) and was associated with higher odds of exhibiting a clinically significant decrease in EPDS scores (OR = 2.03; 95% CI: 1.26–3.29). The workshop plus TAU was more cost-effective than TAU alone. It also led to improvements in postpartum anxiety, infant-focused anxiety, parenting stress, and infant temperament. Conclusions: Peer-delivered 1-day CBT-based workshops can improve PPD and are a potentially scalable low-intensity treatment that could help increase treatment access.
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Of the eight studies where outcome assessors were not blinded, two collected primary outcome data online which meant blinded outcome assessors were not needed.
“Of the remaining eight studies, two collected primary outcome data online which meant blinded outcome assessors were not needed [25, 66].”
From Blinding outcome assessors in randomised controlled trials of psychological interventions: how is it done? A narrative review (2026) · cites this paper as [25]
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“Intervention duration also varied widely, spanning from a single day (Babiy et al., 2024; Somer et al., 2005; Venturo-Conerly et al., 2022) to three months (Barnes et al., 2018 ), with an average duration of approximately five and a half weeks.”
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“This content was based on a previously effective one-day CBT-based workshop for those experiencing PPD (Babiy et al., 2024; Van Lieshout et al., 2021; Van Lieshout et al., 2023).”
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- Authors
- Babiy, Z., Layton, H., Savoy, C. D., Xie, F., Brown, J. S. L., Bieling, P. J., Streiner, D. L., Ferro, M. A., & Van Lieshout, R. J.
- Affiliations
- McMaster University (CA)
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Waterloo (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Babiy, Zoryana
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
- Publisher
- S. Karger AG
- Published
- 2024
- Volume
- 93
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 129-140
- ISSN
- 0033-3190 (ISSN-L)
- 1423-0348
- OpenAlex
- W4391213727
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 7.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Keywords
- postpartum depression, online workshops, low-intensity treatment, cost-effectiveness, postpartum anxiety, parental stress, infant temperament, mother-infant relationship, partner relationship quality, social support, treatment access barriers, usual care
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Female, Humans, Infant, Social Support, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Depression, Postpartum
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