Authors (including presenting author) :
Shum S.H. (1), Dr. Mok J. W. S. (1), Dr. Lo C. S. L. (2)
Affiliation :
(1) Comprehensive Child Development Service, Department of Clinical Psychology, United Christian Hospital (2) Comprehensive Child Development Service, Department of Clinical Psychology, Castle Peak Hospital
Introduction :
On 11 March 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 as a worldwide pandemic, with 118,000 cases in 114 countries. Due to the pandemic, social distancing and reduction of face-to-face medical treatment were recommended in the public health system. All of the routine group treatments had to be suspended. However, the psychological needs of patients from Comprehensive Child Development Service (CCDS) remained strong and needed to be addressed. Therefore, a novel strategy is in need to cater to these patients' needs at this critical moment. Circle of Security - Parenting (COS-P) is an evidence-based, relationship-focused early intervention program to enhance child attachment security. It has been delivered across clusters in CCDS since 2016. Treatment effectiveness of COS-P in CCDS was promising (Shum et al., HA Convention, 2018). The results showed that COS-P is effective in reducing parents’ mood symptoms, parenting stress, and enhancing parental competence, which are favorable factors for promoting positive child development in the long run. However, COS-P has been suspended for over a year during the pandemic and there is lack of study on it's zoom format. Therefore, an intervention study on the effectiveness of zoom format COS-P would be imperative.
Objectives :
To examine the treatment effectiveness of zoom format COS-P for CCDS mothers with postnatal mood disorder and parenting difficulties
Methodology :
Participants were mothers receiving CCDS in KEC and NTWC, who 1) had a principal diagnosis of postnatal depression/ adjustment disorder, and 2) encountered parenting difficulties. Mothers who 1) had intellectual disabilities, or 2) had substance abuse problems, were excluded. The sample consisted of 23 participants from 3 groups conducted from March 2021 to October 2021 in the outpatient clinics of Department of Psychiatry. Groups were conducted once a week with 6-10 mothers per group. COS-P was an 8-session DVD-assisted parenting program and was conducted by an experienced CP of CCDS, who was a COS-P facilitator. Outcome measures included Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), Parenting Stress Scale (PSS), Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC), assessed both prior to and post- intervention. Paired-samples t-tests was used in the data analysis.
Result & Outcome :
Among the 23 mothers, 19 mothers completed all pre-post outcome measures and showed over 75% attendance. Data analysis revealed promising results, despite its small sample size: DASS-Depression (N=19; Pre-mean= 16.84, Post-mean= 10.42; t(18)=3.01, p<.01**), DASS-Anxiety (N=19; Pre-mean =15.05, Post-mean = 11.05; t(18)=2.59, p<.05*), DASS-Stress (N=19; Pre-mean =23.89, Post-mean= 18.95; t(18)=2.77, p<.05*) and PSS (N=19, Pre-mean= 58.00, Post-mean = 52.79; t(18)=3.16, p<.01**) were significantly reduced, and PSOC was significantly enhanced (N=19; Pre-mean = 49.26, Post-mean = 55.84,; t(18)=-2.60, p <.05*). Despite its small sample size, the result is reassuring and encouraging. COS-P conducted in the zoom format was found to be effective for CCDS patients in two local clinical settings, thus, this online attachment-based parenting program should be considered as a core therapeutic component in the overall clinical management of maternal depression in the local setting, especially during the pandemic.
