# 1/2 Predictors and Course of Postpartum Obsessions and Compulsions

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2021 · $256,783

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Obsessional anxiety and compulsive rituals arising during pregnancy and the postpartum have a significant
detrimental short-term impact on the well-being of the mother, the pregnancy, the unborn child, and the newborn
infant. They also can have negative long-term effects on maternal and infant health, as well as on the mother-
infant relationship and on into childhood. Although research has focused on perinatal depressive and anxious
states, there is now strong evidence that obsessions and compulsions (OCS) are precipitated or exacerbated by
pregnancy and childbirth and may have a deleterious impact on mother and infant. Despite an increased risk of
developing OCS during pregnancy and postnatally (i.e., the perinatal period), there is almost no empirical
research on its predictors and precursors, how it is related to other postpartum negative valence states such as
anxiety and depression, or the specific impact of postpartum OCS on the mother. Accordingly, we will
prospectively examine the predictive utility of psychological and biological phenomena (e.g., self-report,
physiology) empirically linked to perinatal/postpartum OCS (pOCS), anxiety, and depression, and how these
states relate with one another. We also aim to evaluate the extent to which pOCS manifest adverse effects on
functionally-related outcomes of significant public health concern, such as obstetric outcomes, maternal health,
maternal attitudes, and parenting behaviors during the first year of life. Consistent with the Research Domain
Criteria (RDoC) framework, women will be screened antenatally for diatheses empirically demonstrated to
predispose to the development or exacerbation of pOCS; and that are thus hypothesized to also put one at risk
for pOCS. High- and low-risk groups will be followed during pregnancy and for 6 months postpartum, and
repeatedly assessed to identify those experiencing more frequent, intense, and prolonged pOCS and the
variables associated with such problems. The two recruitment sites for this study are the University of North
Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins University (JHU). JHU will provide data management and
analytic support. Considering estimates of the high rates of pOCS, together with the limited available information
on this subject, the results of this study will help clinicians and researchers 1) use psychological and biological
markers elucidated in the current study to identify women at increased risk of developing OCD and its adverse
consequences, and 2) reduce the risk of developing OC symptoms in pregnancy, and its adverse consequences,
by modifying these psychological and biological factors prior to pregnancy, and in the early prenatal period.
Moreover, the risk factors elucidated in this study may be applicable to development of non-pregnancy-related
OC symptoms.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10143304
- **Project number:** 5R01MH118249-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Jonathan S. Abramowitz
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $256,783
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10143304

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10143304, 1/2 Predictors and Course of Postpartum Obsessions and Compulsions (5R01MH118249-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10143304. Licensed CC0.

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