Songs from home: addressing postnatal depression and loneliness through online songwriting

INTERVENTION: This single‐centre study comprises a randomised controlled trial in which new mothers with experience of loneliness and symptoms of postnatal depression are randomly allocated to a non‐intervention waitlist control group or to one of four six‐week, 1‐hour‐per‐week group online songwriting interventions with data collected from all participants on loneliness, social connectedness, and symptoms of postnatal depression via online questionnaire. The intervention group will take part in a six‐week online songwriting session led by one of two professional music workshop leaders. Each session will comprise 8‐12 participants who will meet for one hour per week on Zoom from their homes and take part in structured, collaborative songwriting and music‐making activities designed and led by the leader, including optional activities to be completed asynchronously between sessions and communicated via the online platform Trello. The waitlist control will engage in care as usual and take part in data collection measures at the same time points as the intervention group. Eligible mothers who have provided consent will be randomised between the control and treatment groups through an Excel random number generation procedure including stratification by severity of loneliness, severity of postnatal depression symptoms, and age of youngest baby. After the 6 week intervention, there is a two week follow up. CONDITION: Loneliness and postnatal depression among new mothers ; Mental and Behavioural Disorders PRIMARY OUTCOME: Loneliness is measured using the UCLA 3‐Item Loneliness Scale (UCLA‐3; Masi et al., 2010) via online questionnaire at baseline two weeks in advance, immediately following each of the 6 online sessions (or equivalent time for the control), and at follow‐up two weeks after the end of the intervention. SECONDARY OUTCOME: ; 1. Postnatal depression is measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox et al., 1987) via online questionnaire at baseline two weeks in advance, immediately following the final online session, and at follow‐up two weeks after the end of the intervention.; 2. Social connectedness is measured using the Social Connectedness Revised 15‐item Scale (Lee et al., 2008) via online questionnaire at baseline two weeks in advance, immediately following the final online session, and at follow‐up two weeks after the end of the intervention.; INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Aged 18+ 2. Based in the UK 3. A woman who has had a baby within previous 9 months 4. Have experienced loneliness (as per score of 4+ on UCLA‐3) 5. Have symptoms of postnatal depression (as per score of 10+ on EPDS) 6. Have capacity to consent