ABSTRACT
Objectives: This study examined specificity in the effects of three perinatal mindfulness-based prevention programs that differed in their timing (prenatal, postpartum) and target (maternal well-being, parenting). Effects on maternal mental health (depression, anxiety, resilience), mindfulness, and observed parenting, as well as observed, physiological, and mother-report indicators of infant self-regulation, were examined. Methods: The programs were evaluated in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of first-time mothers (n = 188) living in low-income contexts using intention-to-treat analysis. Mothers were assigned to a prenatal well-being, postpartum well-being, parenting, or book control group. Multi-method assessments that included questionnaire, observational, and physiological measures were conducted at four time points: during pregnancy (T1) and when infants were 2-4 months (T2), 4-6 months (T3), and 10-12 months. Results: Compared to the postpartum intervention and control groups, the 6-week prenatal well-being intervention was related to decreases in depressive symptoms during pregnancy but not postpartum, higher maternal baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), fewer intrusive control behaviors, and lower infant cortisol levels in the early postpartum period. Compared to all other groups, the postpartum parenting intervention was related to decreases in maternal anxiety and increases in responsive parenting. Some differential effects across programs might be due to differences in attendance rates in the prenatal (62%) vs. postpartum (35%) groups. Conclusions: The findings suggest that brief mindfulness-based well-being and parenting preventive interventions can promote maternal and infant mental health in families living in low-income, high-stress settings, particularly if accessibility can be enhanced. Preregistration: This study is not preregistered.
ABSTRACT
Dr Olavi Pelkonen (University of Oulu, Finland) was interviewed by Anna Treadway (Senior Editor, Expert Opinion) on 18 May 2006. Olavi Pelkonen has been Professor of Pharmacology and Head of the Department since 1986 at the University of Oulu, Finland. He was born in 1945, graduated from Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu in 1973, obtained his MD, PhD in 1973, was postdoc at National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, USA in 1976 - 1977 and was nominated associate professor in 1978. He has published > 300 reviews and original articles in the areas of drug and carcinogen metabolism, especially cytochrome P450 enzymes, pharmacogenetics and developmental pharmacology. At present, he is working to develop and validate in vitro and in silico methods for the use in drug development and chemical risk assessment, in collaboration with, for example, the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods and several European partners.
ABSTRACT
The 10th Annual Drug Discovery Technology(®) Europe and InfoTechPharma(®) conference and exhibition were held on 14 - 16 March 2006 at the Novotel in London. The conference saw > 110 international speakers contribute their views on the latest topics in drug discovery, from novel experimental methods to future business models. This meeting offered an excellent platform for scientists and pharma IT specialists working along the drug discovery pipeline to debate the merits of various research strategies and exchange cutting edge ideas and R&D solutions. Selected presentations from the conference are further discussed in this meeting report, which covers ribosome display technology, translational medicine, research strategies for cardiovascular diseases and computer-aided molecular design.
