Pregnancy-Related Anxiety and Associated Coping Styles and Strategies: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Pregnancy-related anxiety is a distinct psychological construct during pregnancy, requiring adequate coping behavior.METHOD:A cross-sectional survey was performed among 420 pregnant Dutch-speaking women in Belgium to establish the prevalence rate of pregnancy-related anxiety and to explore its associated coping styles and strategies. Pregnancy-related anxiety was measured with the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire-Revised (PRAQ-R2) and coping was measured with the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced.FINDINGS:Based on PRAQ-R2 score ≥90th percentile, the pregnancy-related anxiety prevalence rate was 13.3%. Women with heightened scores significantly more often had a (family) history of psychological problems (p= .027,p= .013), were significantly more often nulliparous women (p< .000), had a fear of birth (p= .041), felt ill-prepared for birth and parenthood (p< .000), and significantly more often reported to have received insufficient emotional (p= .002) and practical support (p< .000) during pregnancy. The coping style “avoidance” showed a significant positive association with pregnancy-related anxiety (p< .000), while “positive thinking” showed a significant negative association (p= .054). The coping strategies “self-blame,” “substance use,” and “self-distraction” showed a significant positive association with pregnancy-related anxiety (p< .001,p= .011,p= .003).CONCLUSION:Flemish women show overall maladaptive styles and strategies in coping with pregnancy-related anxiety, of which self-blame seems to be a newfound strategy, requiring attention. Health care practitioners might benefit when being aware of the predisposing factors of pregnancy-related anxiety and women’s (mal)adaptive coping styles and strategies to better understand and adequately support these women.