the impact of prenatal group stress management therapy on anxiety in mothers and newborns physiological parameters

Subject Areas : روان درمانگری

Mahsa  Karamoozian ¹ (MA in General Psychology)
Ghasem  Askarizadeh ² (PhD Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman
)
Ali  Darekordi ³ (PhD Candidate Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz)

Received: 2015-05-15 Accepted : 2015-05-15 Published : 2015-03-21

Keywords: pregnancy, Anxiety, physiological parameters, Cognitive-Behavior Stress Management,

Abstract :

the aim of the present study was to examine the effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management (CBSM) training on the levels of anxiety during the pregnancy period and on newborns’ physiological parameters. This study was a semi experimental pretest-posttest with a control group. Thirty primiparous pregnant women who referred to the health clinics of Kermanwere selected using convenient sampling. The participants were randomly assigned into either experimental or control group. The data were collected using the Pregnancy Related Anxiety Questionnaire (PRAQ; Vandenberg, 1990) and the newborns’ physiological parameters (weight, height, head circumference and Apgar score). The experimental group received 12 sessions of CBSM training. The results of multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that the anxiety scores of CBSM group significantly decreased in the posttest stage in comparison with the pretest stage and the scores of control group. There was no significant difference in physiological parameters between the two groups. These findings suggested the effectiveness of CBSM training during pregnancy in reducing the levels of anxiety. Therefore, pregnant women can benefit from psychological interventions such as stress management based on cognitive-behavior therapy in the medical and health centers.