Effects of a self-help program on depressed mood for women with an unfulfilled child wish

This randomized controlled trial aimed to examine the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral self-help program (CBS) with minimal coaching in improving depressed mood for women with a permanent unfulfilled child wish. Participants completed pretest, posttest, and follow-up questionnaires and were randomly allocated to CBS (n = 27) or a waiting list condition (WLC, n =27). Respondents who followed the CBS improved significantly on depression scores compared to the WLC. This positive effect remained at follow-up. This study suggests that a low-resource, low-cost self-help program could be an effective intervention in reducing depressed mood in women living with the loss of a desired child.FSW - Self-regulation models for health behavior and psychopathology - ou