The relationship among fear and anxiety of COVID-19, pregnancy experience, and mental health disorder in pregnant women: A structural equation model.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus pandemic causes stress and anxiety for pregnant women worldwide. The present study was conducted for the path analysis of the relationship among fear and anxiety caused by coronavirus, pregnancy experience, and the mental health of pregnant women. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 222 pregnant women who were referred to Kamali Hospital in Alborz province in 2020. The eligible individuals entered the study through convenience sampling, and data were collected using five questionnaires including the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Anxiety of COVID-19 Scale, the pregnancy experiences Scales, Depression Anxiety Stress scale, and demographic checklist. The obtained data were then analyzed using SPSS-16 and Amos software. RESULTS: According to results of the path analysis, the anxiety of COVID-19 and concerns during pregnancy were variables that were positively and significantly correlated with mental health only through one path, which was direct, and anxiety of COVID-19 had also the highest positive direct correlation among them (B = 0.32). The next variable was the happiness during pregnancy experiencing, which had a significantly negative and direct correlation with mental health disorder (B = 0.29). Moreover, fear of COVID-19 through the mediating concerns of pregnancy experiences was shown to have a significant positive relationship with mental health through an indirect path (B = 0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on the result of this study, it is necessary to pay more attention to the mental health of pregnant women during a pandemic. In addition, it is recommended to provide a virtual training group to reduce anxiety caused by coronavirus and pregnancy concerns, as well as emphasizing the feeling of enjoying happiness caused by pregnancy experience during a pandemic.

Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral stress management on psychological stress and glycemic control in gestational diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine the effect of cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBT) on reducing psychological stress in diabetic pregnant women. METHOD: This randomized controlled trial applied through pretest and post-test with control group was conducted on 88 eligible women with gestational diabetes. Women who had a stress score more than 15, randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. Intervention group received stress management training within six two-hour sessions for three weeks. Stress and FBS were measured before intervention and two weeks after the last session. Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 19.0. Results were analyzed using chi-square, paired t test and independent sample t test. RESULTS: In CBT training group, stress significantly decreased two weeks after the training (p < 0.001). In the control group, the stress scores were significantly different before and after the intervention and women had a significant increase in the stress scores (p = 0.028). There was a significant difference between two groups in stress scores, two weeks after intervention (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Cognitive-behavioral stress management reduces stress in women with gestational diabetes and reducing stress may also improve the pregnancy outcomes, especially whose glycemic along with stress is not adequately controlled by medication.