The Effectiveness of the Object Relations Brief Psychotherapy on Domains of Personality Organization and Postpartum Depression Symptoms

Postpartum depression is one of the disorders that can have irreparable effects on neonatal mental health and mother-child relationship. The aim of this study is to determine effectiveness of the object relations brief psychotherapy on personality organization and postpartum depression symptoms.

This clinical trial study was conducted on 30 women with postpartum depression (15 experimental group and 15 control group) during the period of 1396-97. The sample population was selected from available women visiting the health centers in Tehran and completed the Edinburg postpartum depression Questionnaire.and Structured Interview of Personality Organization in pre-test and post-test stages. The experimental group received 15 sessions of object relations brief psychotherapy, and the control group was not subjected to any intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and multivariate covariance analysis.

According to the results of the covariance analysis test, the postpartum depression score, and scores of different dimensions of personality organization, had a significant decrease in the experimental group compared to the control group, in the post-test stage. These results indicated that the brief object relations psychotherapy has been effective in reducing the symptoms of postpartum depression and has led to positive changes in the dimensions of personality organization.

According to the findings, it can be said that brief object relations psychotherapy can be a suitable treatment for decreasing the symptoms of depression in postpartum period and making positive changes in the dimensions of personality organization.