Completed

Reducing Depressive Symptoms in Low-Income Mothers

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What is being tested

Modified Interpersonal Therapy

+ Attention control/usual care
Behavioral
Who is being recruted

Mental Disorders
+2

+ Behavioral Symptoms
+ Depression
Over 15 Years
See all eligibility criteria
How is the trial designed

Treatment Study

Phase 2
Interventional
Study Start: June 2003
See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Last updated: January 13, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner
Study start date: June 1, 2003Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

Limited resources, poor social support, and complex life problems contribute to the high prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms in low-income mothers. As depressive symptoms persist, they often rob young mothers of the energy they need for school, job training, and positive interaction with their children, which can negatively affect a child's language acquisition, intellectual development, and social conduct. This study will design and implement a home-based treatment to help young mothers manage their depressive symptoms, increase their social support, manage or resolve life issues, and effectively parent their infant or toddler through the use of EHS resources. Mothers will be randomly assigned to receive either home-based interpersonal depression treatment or an attention control/usual care condition for 26 weeks. Assessments will be made at study start and Weeks 14, 22, and 26. Depression scales, interviews, and analyses of videotaped mother-child interactions will be used to assess participants. Stress, social support, and use of EHS services will be assessed.

Official TitleReducing Depressive Symptoms in Low-Income Mothers 
NCT00074789
Principal SponsorUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Last updated: January 13, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details
226 patients to be enrolledTotal number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.
Treatment Study
These studies test new ways to treat a disease, condition, or health issue. The goal is to see if a new drug, therapy, or approach works better or has fewer side effects than existing options.

How participants are assigned to different groups/arms
In this clinical study, participants are placed into groups randomly, like flipping a coin. This ensures that the study is fair and unbiased, making the results more reliable. By assigning participants by chance, researchers can better compare treatments without external influences.

Other Ways to Assign Participants
Non-randomized allocation: Participants are assigned based on specific factors, such as their medical condition or a doctor's decision.
None (Single-arm trial): If the study has only one group, all participants receive the same treatment, and no allocation is needed.

How treatments are given to participants
Participants are divided into different groups, each receiving a specific treatment at the same time. This helps researchers compare how well different treatments work against each other.

Other Ways to Assign Treatments
Single-group assignment: Everyone gets the same treatment.
Cross-over assignment: Participants switch between treatments during the study.
Factorial assignment: Participants receive different combinations of treatments.
Sequential assignment: Participants receive treatments one after another in a specific order, possibly based on individual responses.
Other assignment: Treatment assignment does not follow a standard or predefined design.

How the effectiveness of the treatment is controlled
In a non placebo-controlled study, no participants receive an inert substance (placebo) to compare outcomes. Instead, all participants receive either the experimental treatment or an alternative treatment (often the Standard of Care). This method allows researchers to compare the effects of the experimental treatment with those of a different active intervention, rather than a placebo.

Other Options
Placebo-Controlled: A placebo is used to compare the effects of the experimental treatment with those of an inert substance, isolating the true treatment effect.

How the interventions assigned to participants is kept confidential
Everyone involved in the study knows which treatment is being given. This is typically used when it's not possible or necessary to hide the treatment details from participants or researchers.

Other Ways to Mask Information
Single-blind: Participants do not know which treatment they are receiving, but researchers do.
Double-blind: Neither participants nor researchers know which treatment is given.
Triple-blind: Participants, researchers, and outcome assessors do not know which treatment is given.
Quadruple-blind: Participants, researchers, outcome assessors, and care providers all do not know which treatment is given.

Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Conditions
Criteria
FemaleBiological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.
Over 15 YearsRange of ages for which participants are eligible to join.
Healthy volunteers not allowedIf individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.
Conditions
Pathology
Mental Disorders
Behavioral Symptoms
Depression
Depressive Disorder
Mood Disorders
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Score of 16 or higher on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale * Child who is 6 weeks to 30 months old * Child who is enrolled in an Early Head Start program Exclusion Criteria: * Regular use of psychotropic medication * Regular use of psychotherapy or drug/alcohol treatment

Study Plan

Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.
Treatment Groups
Study Objectives
2 intervention groups 

are designated in this study

This study does not include a placebo group 

Treatment Groups
Group I
Experimental
Participants will receive home-based interpersonal depression treatment for 26 weeks

Psychiatric mental health nurses will meet with participants 10 times, an hour each time, over a period of 14 weeks. The nurses will continue to work with the mothers over the next 8 weeks by phone, conducting 5 fifteen minute phone sessions.
Group II
Active Comparator
Participants will receive attention control/usual care for 26 weeks

Participants will receive the usual care for depression.
Study Objectives
Primary Objectives

Secondary Objectives

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.
This study has 6 locations
Suspended
P.E.A.C.E, Inc. Early Head StartSyracuse, United StatesSee the location
Suspended
Asheville City Schools Preschool-Early Head Start ProgramAsheville, United States
Suspended
Chapel Hill Training Outreach Project, Inc. Early Head StartChapel Hill, United States
Suspended
University of North Carolina, Chapel HillChapel Hill, United States
Completed6 Study Centers