Effect of Cognitive Training on Promotion of Executive Functions in Women with Postpartum Depression in Bushehr City

Women with postpartum depression have problems in executive functions especially in conceptualization, mental flexibility, initiation and design, inhibition and auditory memory. As a result, this research aimed to determine the effect of cognitive training on promotion of executive functions in women with postpartum depression. This research was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design with an experimental and a control groups. The population of research included all women with postpartum depression that referred to health care centers of Bushehr city in 2017 among which 40 persons were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned to two equal groups. The experimental group took 10 sessions of 45 minutes of cognitive training. Groups were evaluated for conceptualization, mental flexibility, initiation and design, inhibition, auditory memory in pre-test and post-test stages. The data were analyzed using SPSS19 and by multivariate analysis of covariance method. Results showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in all five executive functions. In other words cognitive training significantly led to promote the conceptualization, mental flexibility, initiation and design, inhibition and auditory memory of women with postpartum depression (P<0/001). The results indicate that cognitive training can promote the rate of conceptualization, mental flexibility, initiation and design, inhibition, auditory memory of women with postpartum depression. So, counselors and therapists can use cognitive training method to promote the executive functions of mothers with postpartum depression.