Perspectives of perinatal participants who have discontinued brief behavioural activation treatment: Insights from the SUMMIT Trial

Objective: Up to 20% of women experience symptoms of depression and anxiety during the perinatal period (1). However, as few as 12% receive effective mental health treatment due to various barriers to care (2). In this study, we examined the reasons why perinatal women with symptoms of depression and anxiety who participated in a psychotherapy clinical trial chose to discontinue treatment. The objective was to understand some of the personal and structural barriers this population experiences when accessing mental healthcare. Methods: We conducted a qualitative sub-study within the Scaling Up Maternal Mental healthcare by Increasing access to Treatment (SUMMIT) trial. SUMMIT is a four-arm, randomized, non-inferiority trial to test the effectiveness of behavioural activation aimed at alleviating symptoms of depression and anxiety among perinatal women. Participants were randomized by delivery mode (telemedicine vs. in-person) and provider (specialist vs. non-specialist). Of 1,183 SUMMIT participants, 225 (19%) chose to discontinue treatment, of which N=18 were contacted and agreed to be part of the current study. We conducted a content analysis to identify the most commonly reported reasons for treatment discontinuation. Results: Among 18 participants, the most highly endorsed reasons for treatment discontinuation included: transportation challenges (n=13, 72.2%), difficulty arranging childcare (n=11, 61.1%), dissatisfaction with their assigned delivery mode (n=11, 61.1%), work-family conflict (n=6, 33.3%), feeling overwhelmed (n=6, 33.3%), and health concerns or risks associated with hospital-based counselling (n=6, 33.3%). Participants also expressed dissatisfaction with the content or structure of behavioural activation (n=5, 27.8%) and the timing of treatment (received in pregnancy vs. postpartum) (n=4, 22.2%) which contributed to their discontinuation. Conclusion: Our findings provide insights into the personal and structural barriers perinatal individuals experience when accessing treatment in the context of a research setting. Perinatal participants expressed a preference for virtual mental healthcare for its convenience, demonstrating a feasible way to reduce some of the barriers to care.