Intervenção psicoterapêutica, depressão pós-parto e vivência psicológica da gravidez

Abstract

Pregnancy, for most couples, is a period of positive experiences, although this isn’t always the case, and depression is fairly common (Bowen, Bowen, Butt, Rahman, & Muhajarine, 2012; Evans, Heron, Francomb, Oke, & Golding, 2001). The study at hand has as an objective to contribute to the evaluation of the impact of a psychotherapeutic intervention program, focused on couple interaction, in association with a cognitive-narrative intervention orientation in the prevention of gestational depression and the psychological experience of pregnancy. Furthermore it is intended to understand the baseline depression levels of the participants, if any differences occur between men and women and in what form the elements of the dyads experience the pregnancy psychologically. Six pregnant couples took part in the study, and they were divided in the following manner: the control group; experimental group 1, that only benefited from cognitive-narrative intervention; and the experimental group 2, that was subject to cognitive-narrative intervention, in association with the attachment based couple intervention. The depressive symptomatology was evaluated twice, in the 20th-23rd and the 32nd week of gestation, by means of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the psychological experience of pregnancy, through the Escala de Atitudes sobre a Gravidez e a Maternidade (EAGM) and the Escala de Atitudes sobre a gravidez e a paternidade (EAGP), depending on whether it was with respect to the male or female element of the dyad. The results allow us to understand that adaptation to parenthood is experienced diversely, namely in terms of depressive symptomatology development. In terms of psychological experiences of pregnancy, men seem to obtain more from it than women as they benefit from the intervention,although the obtained results for the female category may reflect a more realistic perspective of the transition to parenthood.

Date of Award	2012
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Vânia Sousa Lima (Supervisor)