Purpose: Anxiety disorders are relatively common during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Despite their potential acceptability to users, psychological interventions research for this population is still in its infancy. The meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively evaluate the evidence of the effectiveness of psychological interventions for reducing perinatal anxiety.
Method: The review followed PRISMA guidelines. A total of 26 studies published between 2004 and 2022 fulfilled inclusion criteria of which 22 were included in the meta-analysis.
Results: Results indicated that psychological interventions were more effective than control conditions in reducing symptoms of perinatal anxiety (equivalent to a medium post treatment effect size). Effect sizes were robust for cognitive, behavioural and mindfulness-based interventions. Targeting anxiety also appeared to impact on depression symptoms. There was substantial evidence of methodological heterogeneity.
Conclusions: This review demonstrates that psychological interventions are effective in reducing symptoms of both anxiety and comorbid anxiety and depression in both the antenatal and postnatal periods. Further research on longer-term effects, infant outcomes, treatment approach and modality are required.
Keywords: cognitive behavioural therapy; perinatal anxiety; postpartum; pregnancy; psychological interventions; psychological therapy.
© 2022 The Authors. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The British Psychological Society.