Depressed Mothers' Neonates Improve Following the MABI and a Brazelton Demonstration

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a short-term intervention for improving interaction behaviors of newborn infants with their depressed mothers. Method: Depressed mothers assigned to the experimental group first observed an administration of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) at delivery. Mothers then used a similar instrument, the Mother's Assessment of the Behavior of her Infant (MABI), to independently conduct NBAS-like infant as-sessments periodically at home. Depressed mothers in the control group were not present when the NBAS was administered at delivery, and they periodically completed written assessments at home of their parent-ing attitudes and infants ' development. Results: One-month NBAS assessments administered by an examiner revealed that experimental group infants performed more optimally than controls on Social Interaction and State Organization. Conclusions: Findings suggested that an intervention consisting of mothers taking part in NBAS/MABI assessments may be a simple and cost-effective technique for benefiting infants of depressed mothers during the early postpartum period

Anorexia Nervosa Symptoms are Reduced by Massage Therapy

Nineteen women ( M age = 26) diagnosed with anorexia nervosa were given standard treatment alone or standard treatment plus massage therapy twice per week for five weeks. The massage group reported lower stress and anxiety levels and had lower cortisol (stress) hormone levels following massage. Over the five-week treatment period, they also reported decreases in body dissatisfaction on the Eating Disorder Inventory and showed increased dopamine and norepinephrine levels. These findings support a previous study on the benefits of massage therapy for eating disorders

Benefits of combining massage therapy with group interpersonal psychotherapy in prenatally depressed women

One hundred and twelve pregnant women who were diagnosed depressed were randomly assigned to a group who received group Interpersonal Psychotherapy or to a group who received both group Interpersonal Psychotherapy and massage therapy. The group Interpersonal Psychotherapy (1h sessions) and massage therapy (20 min sessions) were held once per week for 6 weeks. The data suggested that the group who received psychotherapy plus massage attended more sessions on average, and a greater percentage of that group completed the 6-week program. The group who received both therapies also showed a greater decrease in depression, depressed affect and somatic-vegetative symptom scores on the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), a greater decrease in anxiety scale (STAI) scores and a greater decrease in cortisol levels. The group therapy process appeared to be effective for both groups as suggested by the increased expression of both positive and negative affect and relatedness during the group therapy sessions. Thus, the data highlight the effectiveness of group Interpersonal Psychotherapy and particularly when combined with massage therapy for reducing prenatal depression