Screening and Treatment of Perinatal Depression and Anxiety

Dear Colleagues,

Among the perinatal mental disorders, perinatal depression in women has received much attention in the research and clinical field in the last 20 years. Many areas have been investigated, including the prevalence, risk factors, and consequences for child development, mothers’ mental health, and parental couples’ adjustment. Methods for the identification of possibly depressed women have also been explored since the development of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox et al., 1987), favoring the implementation of screening activities and tailored psychological interventions.

More recently, the investigation of perinatal anxiety has received increasing interest among researchers along with the identification of both perinatal depression and anxiety in the male population, highlighting the need to further investigate these issues in the literature.

Manuscripts addressing the following topics will be especially welcomed: the improvement of screening methods in clinical settings and mental health services; empirical contributions for the implementation of guidelines and strategies of assessment; validation studies of new instruments for the screening of perinatal anxiety and depression, especially addressed to the paternal population; evaluation of different modalities, and techniques of psychological intervention.

Furthermore, empirical studies investigating possible changes to the screening and intervention methods due to the spread of COVID-19 are of special interest for submission to this issue.

Authors are encouraged to prepare a short abstract to be sent to the Guest Editor in advance to assess the pertinence of their proposal. 

Dr. Francesca Agostini
Guest Editor

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