Expectant parents’ emotions evoked by pregnancy: A longitudinal dyadic analysis of couples in the Swedish Pregnancy Panel

Abstract

RationaleHolistic antenatal care requires knowledge of individuals’ emotional response to pregnancy. Little is known about how a pregnant woman and her partner influence each other emotionally during a pregnancy. ObjectiveThis study examines six discrete emotions that expectant couples experience during pregnancy, how these emotions change mid-to late-pregnancy, and whether the partners’ emotional responses influence each other. MethodsA longitudinal dyadic study where pregnant women and their partners (1432 couples) rated the extent to which the pregnancy evoked joy, strength, security, worry, shame, and anger at pregnancy week 12–19, 22–24, and 36. Latent curve models with structured residuals identify levels of and change in these emotions over time, while accounting for between- and within-couple variance. ResultsPregnancy evoked mainly joy, strength, security, and worry, and lower levels of anger and shame. Pregnant women and partners felt similar levels of joy, strength, and security, but pregnant women felt more worry, shame, and anger. There was little to no mean-level change in all six measured emotions evoked by pregnancy (between-couple change), and no reciprocal effects between the partners (within-couple change). ConclusionsEmotions in mid-pregnancy were also felt in late pregnancy. Furthermore, the pregnant woman and her partner have individual emotional trajectories. The results can assist healthcare professionals and researchers target interventions to expectant mothers and partners, specifically by understanding emotional response to pregnancy as a stable confound and by not approaching the couple as one emotional unit.