Psy 326 Final Paper

Research Proposal
Tianah Earle
PSY 326
Professor Kimberly Lester
May 4, 2015

Final Paper Research Proposal

Introduction
The article I chose was titled Pregnant African American Women’s Attitudes Towards Perinatal Depression Prevention. The article was the study conducted by Sona Dimidjian of University of Colorado and Sherryl H. Goodman and Kristen G. Williams of Emory University. I selected this particular article because it was of great personal interest to me. I am an African American woman I have three beautiful children however, with the two eldest I suffered from depression making my pregnancy very challenging.   Perinatal depression is when you experience depressive episodes during pregnancy which can often lead to postpartum depression which can be moderate to severely depressive episodes after a woman has given birth. According to the National Institute of Health postpartum depression (PPD) may occur soon after delivery up to a year after delivery. We have all hear before a tragic story of a new mom harming her child of the news or newspaper. These are extreme cases of PPD. Postpartum depression does not mean that you are a danger to children however you should definitely seek the help of a professional in the metal health specialist. Postpartum depression occurs in every one out of five women in the United States and often time is goes undiagnosed and untreated.   The purpose of this study is to focus specifically on the racial minorities’ women’s attitudes and preferences toward depression prevention during pregnancy.   Based on previous studies in regards to perinatal depression I would formulate my hypothesis that African American women would prefer psychosocial intervention rather than pharmacological intervention and are overall less likely to seek professional medical help because of low income.

Literature Review
There is evidence that perinatal depression in African American women is greater than other ethnicities and it is...