Different Psychological Interventions for Perinatal Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Psychological interventions are the preferred treatment for women with perinatal depression, but there is a lack of comprehensive meta-analyses evaluating their effectiveness and the impact of related variables. Objective: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of psychological interventions for perinatal depression and to examine the influence of associated variables. Methods: We systematically searched the Ovid platform, covering the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases from their inception to March 11, 2024. Results: We screened 5,827 articles, and 33 were included in a random-effects meta-analysis. Compared to the control groups, psychological interventions showed a moderate pooled effect size (SMD: -0.65; 95% CI: -0.87 to -0.43, moderate certainty of evidence). Subgroup analyses revealed that individualized interventions were more effective than group-based approaches. Additionally, interventions delivered in non-clinical settings were more effective than those in clinical settings. It was also observed that non-specialist therapists, who were professionally trained, achieved outcomes comparable to those of specialist therapists in treating perinatal depression. The effectiveness of different psychological interventions varied, with IPT demonstrating a larger effect size compared to CBT. Limitations: The limited number of studies on MBI, BA and PST may affect the accuracy of the meta-analysis results. Conclusions: IPT, CBT, MBI, and BA have been shown to effectively alleviate perinatal depression, while PST did not demonstrate significant efficacy. Notably, IPT outperformed the other interventions. Additionally, personalized interventions in non-clinical settings proved more beneficial. Furthermore, trained non-mental health professionals also achieved positive outcomes when delivering psychological interventions.