Perinatal Depression in Inner-City Women

This assignment analyzes a research paper examining perinatal depression in inner-city women across various ethnicities. It delves into the influence of psychosocial risks on depression prevalence and compares findings from different groups. Students are tasked with understanding the complex interplay between ethnicity, risk factors, and mental health outcomes during the perinatal period.

Proposal on
“THE IMPACT OF MATERNAL
DEPRESSION IN AFRO
CARIBBEAN CHILDREN IN
UK”

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
Background/ RATIONALE ............................................................................................................3
RESEARCH QUESTION ...............................................................................................................4
RESEARCH DESIGN ....................................................................................................................4
Overview of study design ...........................................................................................................4
Ethical issues................................................................................................................................5
METHODS .....................................................................................................................................5
Literature search strategy.............................................................................................................5
Electronic search .........................................................................................................................5
Key search terms .........................................................................................................................6
Inclusion and exclusion criteria ..................................................................................................6
Critical appraisal..........................................................................................................................7
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS ...............................................................................................7
Time table....................................................................................................................................7
Estimating associated costs..........................................................................................................7
Critical analysis of problems.......................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
The proposal is about impact of maternal depression in Afro Caribbean children in UK. It
is required to look into the depth of the reason for which maternal depression is considered to be
a taboo in Afro- Caribbean women. There will be analysis of the effects that maternal depression
has on the attachment, education, behavior etc. in Afro- Caribbean children. Further, the effects
of present research on social practice will also be considered.
The proposal for systematic review is structured as follows. A contextual review of
background has been provided to give rational for the research. Research questions have been
clearly outlined. Research design has been provided along with the ethical issues. Methods for
carrying out the systematic review on the topic have been proposed. These include literature
search strategy, electronic search, key search terms, inclusion and exclusion criteria and critical
appraisal. Lastly, practical considerations have been taken into account.
The topic under consideration is significant because maternal depression has tremendous
impact on the growth and development of children (Edge, 2007). Depression is considered to be
a taboo among the Afro Caribbean women which restrains them from accessing mental health
services or obtaining counseling (Greene, Pugh and Roberts, 2008). This exacerbates the
problem of depression among these women which significantly affects the children in a number
of ways.
BACKGROUND/ RATIONALE
According to the study carried out by Hay and et.al., (2008), ecological theory considers
disease to be an interplay between physical, environmental, psychological, social and behavioral
factors. According to systems theory, the ways in which illness affects and individual and other
interrelated systems can be assessed by using concepts of micro (individual), mezzo (family) and
macro (community) level interaction (Hay and et.al., 2008). Barker and et.al (2012) conducted a
study on relative impact of maternal depression and associated risk factors on psychopathology
of offspring. The authors measured child diagnoses by using Development and well being
Assessment (DAWBA) (Barker and et.al., 2012).
Babatunde and Moreno-Leguizamon (2012) conducted a study on daily and cultural
issues of post natal depression in African women immigrants in South East London. The authors
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found that depression was identified and managed by African women in their own cultural
specific ways. They relied on religious beliefs and were dependent on counsel of family
members. The women of this origin considered depression as a taboo and it is kept as a deep
secret within the family. The reason behind this may be that they considered post natal
depression as a sign of weakness. Depression is not regarded as a legitimate illness by Afro
Caribbean women (Babatunde and Moreno-Leguizamon, 2012).
These studies explored maternal depression and its measurement. However, none of the
studies focused on the impacts of maternal depression in Afro Caribbean children in UK. In none
of the studies it was determined how the attitude, behavior and attachment of children are
impacted due to maternal depression. Hence, the topic of the present research is capable of
fulfilling the gap that has been left by previous researches. The rationale behind carrying out the
present research is that unavailability of mother has impact on the family life and hence, child
development (Wan, Moulton and Abel, 2008). Therefore, there is a need to explore the topic.
RESEARCH QUESTION
Research question for the present proposal are the following:
 What are the effects of maternal depression on Afro – Caribbean children?
 Are Afro Caribbean children impacted more by maternal depression as compared to any
other ethnicity?
RESEARCH DESIGN
Overview of study design
For the present study, exploratory research design will be used. This is because it will be
suitable for this study on impacts of material depression. The topic has not been clearly defined
by previous studies and exploratory design will assist in determining the impacts of maternal
depression on Afro Caribbean children. The researcher has an idea about maternal depression
and wants to explore more about its impacts on Afro Caribbean children. Hence, exploratory
design will be suitable for this (Exploratory Design, 2015). It will help in exploring whether
Afro Caribbean children are impacted more by maternal depression as compared to any other
ethnicity.
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Ethical issues
The proposed systematic review on maternal depression can face many ethical issues.
Secondary research will be doe for the present review. Hence, there can be issues in relation to
obtaining consent for using data. If consent is not obtained before using data from other studies,
ethical issues will arise (LoBiondo-Wood and Haber, 2014). Issues may also arise if the work of
other authors is not cited properly. Further, another ethical issue which may be faced by the
research is of plagiarism of text. This is as the present review will use works of other authors.
Hence, the researcher will be required to properly rephrase the text before using it.
METHODS
The present research on maternal depression will be a systematic review. The methods
will comprise of a series of steps which will be used for searching the literature.
Literature search strategy
Literature search strategy is important so that relevant information on the topic can be
obtained (Golder, 2006). An appropriate strategy will be adopted by the researcher which will
help in better investigation of the topic under consideration.
Electronic search
Electronic search will be conducted for the present review topic. This will comprise of
using e-databases. Electronic databases contain large amounts of information on specific subjects
which is stored in a manner that it can be easily and quickly searched (Evans, 2002). The reason
behind using e-databases is that these will help in searching relevant and useful information on
the topic at high speed. There will be use of the following databases for searching literature:
Databases Description
Science Direct This is a full text scientific database. From
it, journal articles from nearly 2500 journals
can be obtained. It also provides book
chapters from around 26, 000 books
(Science Direct, 2015).
Cinhal
This is a cumulative index to nursing and
allied health literature. It provides literature
on wide range of topics such as health
sciences, bio-medicine, nursing, alternative
medicine etc. (CINAHL Database, 2015).
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PsycINFO It is regarded as a world class resource for
abstracts and citations of social and
behavioral science research. It contains
nearly 4 million bibliographic records on
psychology, behavior and social sciences
(PsycINFO, 2015).
Key search terms
Key search terms are important word and phrases which are used for identifying and
retrieving potential evidence which is electronically stored. These are regarded as those variables
with the help of which researcher is able to define a search related to particular topic (Katrak and
et.al., 2004). Key search terms contain a list of all possible words and their synonyms which will
be used for finding out the impacts of maternal depression in Afro Caribbean children. For
retrieving relevant and useful search results for the present review, the following key search
terms will be used:
TERM 1 Maternal, materialistic,
TERM 2 Depression, distress, dejection, desolation,
TERM 3 Impact, influence, effects
TERM 4 Children, youngsters
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Inclusion and exclusion criteria are important as these help in identification of suitable
literature for the systematic review. Inclusion criteria are the characteristics which are required to
be possessed by the prospective studies so that they can be included in the review (Humphreys
and Weisner, 2014). As compared to this, exclusion criteria are those features which disqualify
the studies and exclude them from the systematic review. These criteria will be used as they will
help in evaluating secondary material and identifying those literatures which will provide
relevant answer to the research questions. The following inclusion and exclusion criteria have
been established for carrying out systematic review on maternal depression:
Inclusion criteria Exclusion criteria
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Research studies published in English Research studies published in other
languages
Research studies published in the time
period 2005- 2015.
Research studies published before the
year 2005.
Research studies focusing on impacts of
maternal depression in Afro Caribbean
children in UK
Research studies focusing on impacts of
maternal depression on any other section
on the population
Critical appraisal
It is important to appraise the quality of research articles which have been selected for
carrying out the systematic review (Thomas and Harden, 2008). Hence, CASP or Critical
Appraisal Skills Program tool will be used by the researcher. It provides a checklist with the help
of which research studies can be appraised.
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Time table
Time table for undertaking and completing the systematic review has been outlined below:
Activity/Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Preparing the proposal
Reading literature
finalizing aims, objectives and research questions
Drafting literature review
Collecting secondary data
Analyzing secondary data
Developing research approach and design
Drafting research methodology
Data evaluation
Finalization of other chapters
Revising draft
Final submission
Estimating associated costs
Various costs will be associated with undertaking and completing research. For collection
and analysis of data, finance will be required. Another cost will be in the form of time which will
be consumed in searching relevant content. Research assistants is required to be hired carrying
out the research.
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Critical analysis of problems
Various problems may be faced by the research while conducting the present systematic
review. This will be in the form of financial constraints, restricted access to journal articles, time
constraints etc.
CONCLUSION
From the proposal, it can be concluded that the topic of maternal depression and its
impacts on Afro Caribbean children is of great significance. Depression is considered to be a
taboo which exacerbates the condition. As the mother is not available, it impacts growth,
development, attachment, behavior etc. of children. Therefore, this systematic review will be of
great help as it will impact the social work practice.
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REFERENCES
Journals and Books
Barker, D. E. and et.al., 2012. Relative impact of maternal depression and associated risk factors
on offspring psychopathology. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 200(2). pp.124-129.
LoBiondo-Wood, G. and Haber, J., 2014. Nursing research: Methods and critical appraisal for
evidence-based practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Babatunde, T. and Moreno-Leguizamon, J. C., 2012. Daily and Cultural Issues of Postnatal
Depression in African Women Immigrants in South East London: Tips for Health
Professionals. Nursing Research and Practice. 2012.
Edge, D., 2007. Ethnicity, psychosocial risk, and perinatal depression—a comparative study
among inner-city women in the United Kingdom. Journal of psychosomatic research.
63(3). pp.291-295.
Evans, D., 2002. Database searches for qualitative research. Journal of the Medical Library
Association. 90. pp.290-293.
Golder, S., 2006. Developing efficient search strategies to identify reports of adverse effects in
MEDLINE and EMBASE. Health Info Libr J. 23(1). pp.3–12.
Greene, R., Pugh, R. and Roberts, D., 2008. Black and minority ethnic parents with mental
health problems and their children. Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).
Hay, D. F. and et.al., 2008. Antepartum and postpartum exposure to maternal depression:
different effects on different adolescent outcomes. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry. 49(10). pp.1079-1088.
Humphreys, K. and Weisner, C., 2014. Use of exclusion criteria in selecting research subjects
and its effect on the generalizability of alcohol treatment outcome studies. American
Journal of Psychiatry.
Katrak, P. and et.al., 2004. A systematic review of the content of critical appraisal tools. BMC
Medical Research Methodology. 4(22). pp. 1-50.
Thomas, J. and Harden, A., 2008. Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in
systematic reviews. BMC medical research methodology. 8(1). p.45.
Wan, M. W., Moulton, S. and Abel, K. M., 2008. A review of mother–child relational
interventions and their usefulness for mothers with schizophrenia. Archives of women's
mental health. 11(3). pp.171-179.
Online
CINAHL Database. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.ebscohost.com/nursing/products/cinahl-databases/the-cinahl-database>.
[Accessed on 4 January 2015].
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Exploratory Design. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<http://lynn-library.libguides.com/researchmethods/researchmethodsd8>. [Accessed on 4
January 2015].
PsycINFO. 2015. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/>.
[Accessed on 5 January 2015].
Science Direct. 2015. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.sciencedirect.com/>. [Accessed
on 4 January 2015].
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