Pregnancy and psychoemotional stress reactions. Age factor

Abstract

Pregnancy is a unique period in a woman’s life with an increased likelihood of psychological changes and emotional disorders such as depression, anxiety and stress. Almost 70% of women experience various changes in their mental state during pregnancy. There is a need to consider the physiology and psychology of a pregnant woman not as a separate process, but as a single integrated system and to promote the search for new methods of regulating psychoemotional states.The objective: to determine the relationship between psychoemotional stress reactions and pregnancy, taking into account the age factor.Materials and methods. Special psychometric testing of 100 pregnant women of different ages and at different stages of gestation was carried out. Each of the research participants was asked to complete a survey using three questionnaires. The Spielberger–Hanin scale, the psychological stress measure (PSM-25) and the impact of event scale – revised (IES-R) of a traumatic event were used for analysis. The average age of the examined patients was 30.9±5.54 years; 48 persons were ≤30 years old, 49 women were 31–40 years old, and 3 patients were ≥41 years old.Statistical processing of the results was carried out in the program for working with electronic spreadsheets Microsoft Excel 2016 and the program for comprehensive data analysis - STATISTICA 10 for Windows. Graphic design was done with Microsoft Excel 2016.Results. According to the Spielberger–Hanin survey, 14% of women had a low level of reactive anxiety, 52% – a moderate level, and 34% – a high level. Only 7% of women had a low level of personal anxiety, and their average value was close to a moderate level, 44% of patients had a moderate level and 49% had a high level.According to the data of impact of event scale – revised (IES-R) of a traumatic event, which has 3 subscales, it was established that a low level of the subscale of intrusion among the interviewed pregnant women was found in 16% of women (n=16), an average level in 23%, an elevated level in 15% and high one – in 46%. A low level of the avoidance subscale was determined in 16% of women, an average level – in 12%, a high level – 14%, and a high level – 58%.According to the results of the psychological stress measure PSM-25, the majority of women had a low level of stress – 77%, medium level – 22%, high level – 1%.Conclusions. According to the results of the study, the majority of women had a high level of anxiety during pregnancy, the prevalence of which was the highest one among women 31 to 40 years old; the lowest rate was among pregnant women younger than 30 years old.It is necessary to develop measures aimed at psychoprophylaxis of pregnant women, at their conscious attitude to pregnancy, childbirth and subsequent motherhood.