top of page

KEY FINDINGS

Image by Muneer ahmed ok

Does the THPP+ intervention work?

  • The peer-delivered, psychosocial intervention, Thinking Healthy Program, Peer Delivered, Plus (THPP+) implemented in the Bachpan study was carried out in rural Pakistan, a setting that has a high prevalence of maternal depression and limited access to mental healthcare. 

  • THPP+ has two aims:

    • Mitigating maternal depression symptoms

    • Bolstering child social and emotional development.

Image by Alfonso Scarpa

What effect do fathers have on early childhood development and maternal depression? 

  • Fathers have an important role in a child's life and are uniquely positioned to influence early childhood development and maternal health and wellbeing.

Image by Ajin K S

What are the role of grandmothers in child growth and development?

  • Grandmothers are an important source of childcare, particularly in low-resource settings.

  • In the Bachpan cohort, 68 percent of children reside with a grandmother and most are involved in caregiving.

Image by Abuzar Xheikh

What are the effects of post-natal cultural practices on post-partum depression?  ​

  • Cultural post-partum practices are associated with increased social support for mothers, which may be protective against post-partum depression.

  • In Pakistan, post-partum practices are referred to as chilla (چله), a 40-day period of confinement for a woman after her first birth where she returns to her mother's home and receives additional support.

Image by Laura Chouette

What is the relationship between socioeconomic status and prenatal depression? 

  • There is increasing interest in the relationship between indicators of socioeconomic status, poverty, and mental health outcomes in lower- and middle-income countries.

  • We know that prenatal depression is a salient public health concern and contributes to negative outcomes for both the mother and child.

Image by Wim van 't Einde

Are there biomarkers for maternal depression and early childhood adversity? 

  • Maternal depression and childhood adversity is associated with increased risk for stress-related disease and other adverse social and developmental outcomes.

  • This chronic stress becomes biologically embedded along the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, affecting the production of stress hormones, notably cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).

Image by Aditya Romansa

What effect does responsive caregiving have on children? 

Responsive caregiving is defined as caregivers responding appropriately to child behavior and is linked to various child health outcomes.

Image by muneeb malik

What influence do adverse childhood experiences have on maternal depression? 

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a common precursor to depression in adults and encompass a wide variety of traumatic experiences, including

emotional neglect, physical neglect, household substance abuse, incarceration of a household member, household mental illness, physical abuse, emotional abuse, household violence, bullying, community violence, and collective violence.

Image by Nick Abrams

Does perinatal social support reduce the risk of maternal depression? 

Maternal depression occurring during pregnancy or within 1 year of childbirth imposes a high burden on women, with the potential to create long-lasting adverse consequences for herself and her child. Perinatal social support can play an instrumental role in protecting women against maternal depression.

Image by Muhammad Muzamil

What factors contribute to an increase in suicidal ideation during pregnancy and postpartum?

Suicidal ideation (SI) is an important concern during pregnancy and postpartum.

  • In this paper, we studied the prevalence and predictors of SI over time in our sample of mothers.

Image by Luana Azevedo

What is the impact on maternal mental health when infant caregiving is shared between the mother and other household members?

  • Our team designed the Day-in-the-Life (DIL) method as a new way to measure caregiving and maternal support.

    • This measure is a semi-structured interview in which the mother describes her child’s day from their perspective.

    • Mothers report on who participates in regular caregiving activities, including daily feedings, bathing; social caregiving such as comforting or playing with the child; and support activities such as performing care in the absence of the mother.

Image by Muhammad Muzamil

What are the impacts of intimate partner violence and stressful life events on perceived stress in the postpartum period?

  • In this study, we were interested in learning about the associations between intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure (including the type and severity of IPV), stressful life events, and perceived stress in women.

  • We found that psychological IPV was the most common form of IPV, followed by sexual IPV and physical IPV.

bottom of page