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. 2021 Feb 26;21(1):83.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-021-01202-x.

Psychological interventions for maternal depression among women of African and Caribbean origin: a systematic review

Dung Ezekiel Jidong  1 , Nusrat Husain  2 , Ayesha Roche  3 , Grace Lourie  3 , Tarela J Ike  4 , Maisha Murshed  3 , Miriam S Park  3 , Haruna Karick, Zubairu K Dagona  5 , Juliet Y Pwajok  5 , Anil Gumber  6 , Christopher Francis  5 , Pam P Nyam  3 , Shadrack B Mwankon  7
Affiliations

Psychological interventions for maternal depression among women of African and Caribbean origin: a systematic review

Dung Ezekiel Jidong et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: Maternal depression is a leading cause of disease burden for women worldwide; however, there are ethnic inequalities in access to psychological interventions in high-income countries (HICs). Culturally appropriate interventions might prove beneficial for African and Caribbean women living in HICs as ethnic minorities.

Methods: The review strategy was formulated using the PICo (Population, phenomenon of Interest, and Context) framework with Boolean operators (AND/OR/NOT) to ensure rigour in the use of search terms ("postpartum depression", "maternal depression", "postnatal depression", "perinatal depression" "mental health", "psychotherapy" "intervention", "treatment", "black Caribbean", "black African", "mothers" and "women"). Five databases, including Scopus, PsycINFO, Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), ProQuest Central and Web of Science, were searched for published articles between 2000 and July 2020. 13 studies met the inclusion criteria, and the relevant data extracted were synthesised and thematically analysed.

Results: Data syntheses and analyses of included studies produced four themes, including (1) enhance parenting confidence and self-care; (2) effective mother-child interpersonal relationship; (3) culturally appropriate maternal care; and (4) internet-mediated care for maternal depression.

Conclusion: In the quest to address maternal mental health disparities among mothers of African and Caribbean origin in HICs, the authors recommend culturally adapted psychological interventions to be tested in randomised control trials.

Keywords: African; Caribbean; Culture; Depression; Maternal; Mothers; Psychological intervention; Women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests. NH is chair of Manchester Global Foundation. NH is carrying out research on maternal mental health funded by Grand Challenges Canada and the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Showing trajectory of the literature review process
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