Bonding Before Birth: A mHealth Intervention for First-time Expectant Couples

Sponsor
Institute for Human Development and Potential (IHDP), Singapore
Study ID
NCT07483515
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Emotion Regulation
  • Parenting Self-efficacy
  • Pregnancy
  • Stress (Psychology)

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
21 Years - 75 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Group B (Intervention) — BEHAVIORAL
    Participants in the intervention group will receive recommended modules in the mHealth app installed on their phones.

Study Details

Emotional regulation is a key component of reducing parenting stress, a sense of self-efficacy, and thus successful parenting, child outcomes, and productivity amongst working parents. However, few interventions begin building these necessary components in pregnancy prior to the extremely stressful period immediately post-partum, where little trait and behavioural modification occurs. More importantly, most interventions overlook the importance of having both partners, despite fathers/partners playing a significant role in influencing maternal stress and mood symptoms. This goal of this study is to examine whether short weekly exercises delivered through a mobile app can help first-time parents feel better emotionally during pregnancy. These exercises are designed to help people manage their emotions and stress. Researchers want to know if doing these exercises, along with getting weekly feedback and encouragement, can reduce signs of depression and improve emotional control. Expecting mothers and fathers who are having their first child may be able to join the study if they meet certain conditions. Participants should be planning to stay in Singapore for the next two years and be comfortable using a smartphone and answering questions in English. Participants may benefit from learning new ways to manage stress and emotions, which could help improve their mental health. Participants will wear a Fitbit watch to track activity. They will complete a short weekly survey about their well-being during pregnancy and a monthly survey about their work productivity until six months after the baby is born. They will also answer online surveys about their health, relationships, and background at the start, three times during pregnancy, and three times after birth. In addition, they will visit the research lab twice to take part in tasks that measure thinking and behaviour.

Key Dates

First listed
Mar 19, 2026
Start date
Jul 6, 2026
Status verified
Jun 2026
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2028
Completion
Dec 31, 2028

Study Design

Enrollment
572 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • No Intervention: Group A (Control)
    Participants' will have access to a mobile app with similar functions as the participants in the intervention group, except that there are no personalized modules given. Data will also be collected from online and in-app surveys, as well as via the Fitbit watch.
  • Experimental: Group B (Intervention)
    Participants have access to the mHealth app that will be installed on their mobile devices and have access to weekly personalized recommendations. Data will also be collected from online and in-app surveys, as well as via the Fitbit watch.

Primary Outcome Measure

Parents' Depressive Symptoms [ Time Frame: Administered upon enrollment, once at 21-24 gestation weeks, once at 28-32 weeks, once at 37-40 gestation weeks, and postnatal 1-, 3-, and 6-months. A composite outcome of the three postnatal EPDS measurements will be used as a primary outcome assessment ]

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