Depressed Mothers in Rural Areas: Web-Facilitated Cognitive Behavioral Treatment

Low income mothers of young children represent a disadvantaged group who are at exceptional risk for depressive syndromes and who have increasingly limited access to mental health services. The proposed project is designed to evaluate Mom-Net, an internet-facilitated cognitive-behavioral(CBT) intervention for depression, adapted from Lewinsohn's Coping with Depression Course, and tailored to mothers of young children. Mom-Net, which was developed and piloted in an recently completed NIMH-funded investigation (MH070426), was designed to overcome the substantial barriers to treatment participation that exist for mothers experiencing economic hardship and those in rural communities. Though the pilot trial demonstrated that the program was very effective in reducing depressive symptoms and related difficulties, it was conducted under the 'idealized' conditions typical of initial intervention tests (e.g., computers and internet connections were supplied to all participants; access to the internet was provided by a single browser; coaches who provided weekly phone support were research staff, and initial recruitment and motivational interviews sessions were conducted via home visits to participants). These conditions likely facilitated recruitment and retention of participants, as well as ease and fidelity of treatment delivery. Thus one goal of the current project is to evaluate the intervention under conditions that are closer to those of real-world service providers and recipients. The current project is also intended to provide a more rigorous test of the intervention than did the pilot in a number of ways. Participants in the pilot trial will be 300 mothers of 3-5 year old children recruited through Head Start classrooms and prescreened for the presence of elevated depressive symptoms.Subsequent to the pre-intervention assessment, participants will be randomized to either the intervention or facilitated usual care (FUC) condition. The evaluation of the intervention will focus on maternal depressive symptoms, parenting behavior, and child adjustment. Two follow-up assessments (at 12-month and 24-month intervals) will enable us to examine maintenance of effects. Overall, the investigation will contribute to the evidentiary base regarding the dissemination potential of this empirically-supported intervention, adaptations to which have the potential to enable a greater proportion of the population to access and benefit from it.