# 1/2-Preventing Depressive Relapse in Pregnant Women with Recurrent Depression

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · 2020 · $446,902

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
Depressive relapse during pregnancy is highly prevalent particularly among women with recurrent depression.
Maternal psychiatric morbidity associated with depressive relapse during pregnancy is of concern as is the
impact of untreated mood disorder during pregnancy and the postpartum period on child development. While
maintenance antidepressant treatment is the standard of care for women with recurrent depression, concerns
exist regarding known and unknown effects of fetal exposure to these agents; understandably, many pregnant
women and their providers seek non-pharmacologic alternatives to pharmacologic treatment during pregnancy.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is efficacious in the prevention of depressive relapse among
pregnant women as compared to usual care and is scalable using digital delivery. We propose a pragmatic
effectiveness trial comparing MBCT to usual care (UC) among euthymic pregnant women (N=500) with
recurrent depression treated with maintenance antidepressants. The study will be conducted at the University
of Colorado Boulder (UCB; PI Dimidjian) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH; PI Cohen) using the
Collaborative RO1 mechanism. This grant mechanism is justified given the unique expertise brought by each
site to the proposed investigation. Specifically, the UCB site provides expertise in pragmatic randomized trials
and MBCT for pregnant women, and the MGH site provides expertise in prospective monitoring of pregnant
women with mood disorders. We will address three primary aims: 1) to examine the relative risk for depressive
relapse and reduction of symptom burden between women randomized to digital MBCT or UC; 2) to examine
the risk for depressive relapse between women who are randomized to MBCT who discontinue antidepressant
treatment and those randomized to UC who discontinue antidepressant treatment, and to apply a treatment
selection algorithm to ask what works for whom with respect to MBCT versus antidepressant maintenance;
and 3) to examine the extent to which digital MBCT engages key putative targets. Systematic investigation of
interventions that can attenuate risk for depressive relapse during pregnancy particularly in “at risk” populations
minimizes the morbidity of recurrent depression during critical times in the lives of reproductive aged women.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9920204
- **Project number:** 5R01MH117251-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
- **Principal Investigator:** Sona Dimidjian
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $446,902
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-23 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9920204

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9920204, 1/2-Preventing Depressive Relapse in Pregnant Women with Recurrent Depression (5R01MH117251-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9920204. Licensed CC0.

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