Expectant Parents’ Emotions Evoked by Pregnancy: A Longitudinal Dyadic Analysis of Couples in the Swedish Pregnancy Panel

Abstract

Background: Holistic 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. This study examines six discrete emotions that expectant couples experience during pregnancy, how these emotions change during pregnancy, and whether the partner’s emotional responses influence each other. Methods: A longitudinal dyadic study where pregnant women and their partners (1,432 couples) rated the extent to which the pregnancy evoked joy, strength, security, worry, shame, and anger at pregnancy weeks 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. Findings: Pregnancy evoked mainly joy, strength, security and worry, and to the same extent in both groups. Levels of anger and shame were low, but higher for pregnant women than partners. There was little to no mean-level change in all six measured emotions evoked by pregnancy, and no reciprocal effects between the partners. Interpretation: Emotions in early pregnancy are felt also 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. Funding Information: This study was funded by The Swedish Research Council (2015-01546), Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW2017.0245), and the University of Gothenburg. Declaration of Interests: We declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The Swedish Ethical Review Authority approved the SPP on April 15, 2019 (Dnr: 1061-18).