Feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a culturally adapted nonspecialist delivery Problem-Solving Therapy: Friendship Bench Intervention for perinatal psychological distress in Sierra Leone.

ABSTRACT: In low- and middle-income countries like Sierra Leone, there is a significant gap in the treatment of perinatal mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and somatization. This study explored the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a culturally adapted Problem-Solving Therapy - Friendship Bench Intervention (PST-FBI) delivered by nonspecialists, mother-to-mother support groups (MMSGs), to perinatal women experiencing psychological distress. MMSGs provide 4 weeks of home-based, individual PST-FBI, followed by a peer-led group session called col at sacul (circle of serenity). The intervention targeted peri-urban pregnant women and new mothers screened for psychological distress. This was a two-armed, pre-post, waitlist-controlled study that employed t

SUBMITTER: Bah AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11867829 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature