Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy – Perinatal Depression (MBCT-PD) is a group-based therapy that focuses on developing mindfulness and cognitive behavioral skills and has been shown to be efficacious in reducing depressive symptoms and emergence of major depressive disorder postpartum. This pilot translational fMRI study proposes to examine whether cognitive control and emotion regulation are potential neural mechanisms of action of MBCT-PD. Additionally, the study proposes to explore whether these proposed mechanisms of action may effect intergenerational transmission of risk, namely reported negative infant emotionality.

Kristen Mackiewicz-Seghete, PhD

Principal Investigator

kmseghete@gmail.com

Oregon Health & Science University

Department of Clinical Psychology

Portland, OR

Dr. Mackiewicz-Seghete earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder, completing her clinical internship in the Department of Child Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. After graduation, she completed a two-year NIAAA postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience at OHSU. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at OHSU. Her basic research interests are focused on executive function, cognitive and affective neurobiological markers of risk for psychopathology, and the effect of childhood maltreatment on cognitive and affective brain processes across the lifespan. Additionally, Dr. Mackiewicz Seghete is interested in directly bridging basic neuroimaging work with clinical research on preventative interventions. As such, her current work as a part of the SOBC network is focused on examining the neurobiological mechanisms of action of a preventative, perinatal mindfulness-based intervention (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) in women at heightened risk of postpartum depression. Dr. Mackiewicz Seghete’s research is strongly influenced by her areas of clinical work and expertise, which include pediatric neuropsychology, interpersonal trauma, mindfulness-based interventions, and dyadic work.