Role functioning and symptom remission in women with postpartum depression after antidepressant treatment

The primary purpose of this pilot study was to compare improvement of symptoms and role functioning in women with postpartum depression after 8 weeks of treatment with antidepressants. The study was a secondary data analysis from the preliminary data of a double blind, randomized clinical trial. The participants (n=61) were primarily Caucasian and slightly over half were married, first time mothers, and middle- to upper-middle-class. At intake, most participants were moderately to severely ill. At week one and week eight of the study, measures of symptoms and functioning were only moderately correlated. After 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment, symptoms and most measures of functional status improved; however, improvement in one dimension did not imply improvement in the other. Recommendations are given for clinical practice and further research in this area.