Mothers Optimizing Resources Everyday (MORE): Buffering mental health inequities in low-resourced perinatal populations

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Project Abstract Charlotte Farewell, PHD, MPH is a behavioral health scientist whose overarching career goal is to implement well-being promotion programs during critical periods to reduce inequities in perinatal mental health outcomes among low-resourced individuals. The research she proposes entitled, “Mothers Optimizing Resources Everyday (MORE): Buffering Mental Health Inequities in Low-resourced Perinatal Populations,” aligns with numerous NIMHD research strategies including strengthening analytical models to identify critical periods of malleability to mitigate the intergenerational transmission of disparities, advancing understanding of how multi- level protective factors impact health, and building the science of adapting behavioral health interventions. Candidate: Dr. Farewell is an Assistant Professor of Community and Behavioral Health at the Colorado School of Public Health. The proposed career development plan includes four training goals: 1. Advance expertise in latent growth modeling; 2. Gain skills in adaptation of perinatal mental health-related research and practice to address health inequities; 3. Enhance training in evidence-based psychological capital interventions; and 4. Increase proficiency in dissemination and implementation science and integration of care. Research: Perinatal mood disorders are prevalent. Individuals who are able to acquire and maintain personal and social resources are better situated to cope with the demands associated with the transition to motherhood . Psychological Capital Interventions (PCIs) are evidence-based approaches that promote mental health and well-being. Adaptation of a multi-level PCI that seeks to foster combinations of resources across the perinatal period may serve as an important yet underexplored strategy to optimize perinatal well-being among low-resourced communities. Aim 1 will investigate point-estimates and trajectories of psychological capital across the perinatal period in 300 individuals experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Aim 2 will identify cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between psychological capital trajectories, social resources and mental health outcomes. Aim 3 will consist of interviews, data integration, and an iterative adaptation process, resulting in a multi-level PCI for perinatal populations experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Summary: The innovation of MORE is threefold: 1) identification of a constellation of multi-level protective factors that support perinatal mental health, 2) application of a life course perspective and longitudinal modeling to investigate resources across critical, malleable periods, and 3) adaptation of PCIs that may reduce stigma by offering support without pathologizing, thus increasing access to mental health supports. Although the root social and economic factors must be addressed to eliminate health inequities, psychosocial interventions that bolster resources to better cope with stress may be cost-efficient and effective strategies to reduce socioeconomic inequities in health. This award will provide preliminary data for an R01 to implement MORE during specific critical periods to specific subgroups in order to reduce the intergenerational transmission of health inequities.