It seeks to address major gaps identified in the USPSTF recommendation statement concerning interventions to prevent perinatal depression. This FOA encourages research into strategies that can be used to match and deliver preventive interventions of appropriate intensity. The practice-based research should test theory-based preventive approaches that are efficacious and potentially scalable and sustainable in real-world perinatal care settings. The perinatal period in this context refers to the period during pregnancy or up to 1 year after childbirth. The purpose of this FOA is to support clinical trials to establish the effectiveness of perinatal depression interventions when implemented in settings where women receive perinatal care. Hybrid effectiveness-intervention trials are needed to understand better how these and other research-supported interventions may be implemented at scale in diverse healthcare and community settings by local providers who are trained to deliver interventions with fidelity. In 2019, the USPSTF concluded that providing or referring pregnant or postpartum women who are at increased risk to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or interpersonal therapy (IPT) has a moderate net benefit in preventing perinatal depression. It affects as many as 1 in 7 pregnant women and can result in negative short- and long-term consequences for mother and baby. Perinatal depression is one of the most common complications of pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Support for pilot effectiveness is provided via a companion R34 FOA ( RFA-MH-21-241) that supports pilot effectiveness studies in preparation for the larger-scale, fully powered studies described in this FOA.

This FOA is intended to support effectiveness research trials that are statistically powered to provide a definitive answer regarding the effectiveness of the intervention. The research scope for this FOA includes : 1) strategies for identifying women at risk for perinatal depression 2) developing and testing tools for selecting those most likely to benefit from preventive interventions 3) testing service-ready efficacious preventive interventions that are of appropriate intensity/dose, and are scalable, such that they can be delivered with fidelity by setting providers and, 4) testing strategies that can be used to train providers and to support delivery of evidence-based approaches with fidelity across diverse health care and community settings. The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage research addressing major gaps identified in the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation statement concerning interventions to prevent perinatal depression, with an emphasis on populations experiencing mental health disparities.

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