Association between fear of childbirth and maternal acceptance of pregnancy.

AIM: This descriptive study aimed to explore the associations between fear of childbirth, acceptance of pregnancy and identification with the motherhood role among primipara women. BACKGROUND: Women who have difficulty accepting their pregnancy have a harder time adapting to pregnancy and motherhood and experience more fears related to childbirth. The number of studies conducted on this topic is limited. METHODS: This study involved 310 pregnant women admitted to a public hospital in Istanbul between January and June of 2013. A participant identification form, the Prenatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire and the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire Version A were used for data collection. RESULTS: Pregnant women participating in the study experienced moderate levels fear of childbirth. Pregnant women who requested caesarean section experienced more intense fear of childbirth. Fear of childbirth scores had significant but weak correlations with acceptance of pregnancy and identification with the motherhood role. CONCLUSION: The findings showed that acceptance of pregnancy and identification with the motherhood role are weakly associated with fear of childbirth. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: The results from this study can be used to help: increase awareness among health professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives) in antenatal care services about a mother's adaptation to pregnancy and the negative effects of fear of childbirth; direct future research examining factors affecting adaptation to pregnancy and fear of childbirth; establish routine assessments for adaptation to pregnancy and fear of childbirth; provide professional support for women with difficulties adapting to pregnancy and with fear of childbirth; result in reduced complications from invasive methods such as caesarean section due to less requests for these procedures; and promote the health of mothers and babies.

Women's perception of the menopause and hormone treatment: barriers against hormone therapy.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the mean age of menopause, menopausal symptoms, and perceptions of hormone therapy (HT) among women aged 20-64 years in Turkey. METHODS: The study was descriptive and cross-sectional. A total of 729 Turkish women between 20 and 64 years old, living in urban areas (Samsun, Manisa and Isparta, three big cities in Turkey), participated in the study. RESULTS: The mean age of menopause was found out to be 47 ± 4.8 years. In the present study, 53.6% of the menopausal women did not consult a doctor; 42.3% of the women who consulted their doctor did not start taking HT. HT was recommended to 23.9% of the women, but they refused to use it, while the remaining 33.8% started HT. However, even those who started HT stopped taking it later. Of the women using HT, 80.8% started to take their medications regularly; however, 50% of these discontinued HT due to the fear of cancer, and the other 50% discontinued the treatment on the recommendation of their doctors. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment of half of the women who used HT was terminated by doctors, while the other half chose to discontinue the therapy themselves due to their fear of cancer. The present study offers a significant insight into the barriers against HT for women in the menopausal period. Health professionals should inform women about evidence-based studies and implement an individualized treatment and health-care plan by sharing information with potential users.

Pregnant women's knowledge and attitudes about stem cells and cord blood banking.

AIM: This study was to determine pregnant women's knowledge and attitudes towards stem cells and cord blood banking in Istanbul, Turkey. BACKGROUND: Stem cell research is one of the most important and, at the same time, the most controversial topics of science and technology today. Nurses need to understand stem cell research so they can enter the debate on this issue. They can become important sources of information in order to help parents understand the issues. METHODS: This exploratory descriptive study was conducted in two antenatal outpatient clinics in Istanbul. The sample consisted of 334 pregnant women during routine prenatal visits. Data were collected in interviews by using an interview form developed by the researchers according to the literature. The form included demographic characteristics of participants and 20 questions about stem cells, storing cord blood and banking and 10 independent attitude statements. RESULTS: The majority of the participants had a lack of knowledge about stem cells and cord blood banking and wanted more information. Before pregnancy, they received some information through the media (newspaper, Internet, television, etc.), but unintentionally. It was determined that they wanted information before becoming pregnant, more from their obstetrician but also from nurses and midwives. The majority also wanted to store their infants' cord blood and stated that they would be more likely to choose a public cord blood bank. CONCLUSION: Those giving ante- and perinatal care need to offer accurate and scientific counselling services on this subject to parents who need to be informed.

Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire.

The present study investigated the reliability and validity of the ATQ in the Turkish cultural context. It is hoped that with this type of cross-cultural information, the universality of the proposed cognitive constructs can be advocated more reliably. The subjects were 345 university students; the split-half reliability of the ATQ was found to be r = .91 and Cronbach's alpha was .93; and item/total correlations ranged between .36 and .69. The Turkish ATQ correlated well with the BDI (r = .75), and it discriminated successfully between the symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. Factor analysis revealed five factors that were similar to those found in American samples. Nevertheless, some differences were noticed in the relative strength of the factors and in the distribution of items into factor clusters.

How dysfunctional are the dysfunctional attitudes in another culture?

The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS-A) has been used in many studies to measure depressogenic attitudes, vulnerability to depression and to assess the effectiveness of cognitive therapy. Despite its frequent use in research, no data have yet been reported on its item validity. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the item validity and psychometric properties of the DAS-A in the Turkish cultural context. The subjects were 345 university students. The locally adapted versions of the Beck Depression Inventory and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire were also administered. The reliability coefficients and the factor structure of the DAS-A were found to be similar to those reported in the West. However, the total mean was found to be unusually high. The reason for this elevated mean score was found to reside in the response patterns of the subjects to the reverse items. None of these 10 reverse items discriminated the dysphoric and non-dysphoric groups. A closer examination revealed these 10 items to reflect autonomous attitudes. It seems that these 10 reverse items do nothing but distort the mean scores and render cross-cultural comparisons difficult. Recent research on depression shows that, while autonomy may or may not be related to depression, sociotropy has consistent association with it. Researchers in other cultures and those working with minority and immigrant groups are warned against this bias inherent in the DAS-A.