Disorders related to pre-term birth (PTB) and low birthweight (LBW), two of the leading causes of infant death and disease in the United States, have been associated with costly health problems. Despite widespread preventive efforts, their prevalence has increased in the U.S. during the last decade. Past research supports a relationship between psychological stress and negative birth outcomes, including PTB and LBW; but the results are inconsistent. Research on stress mediators such as coping provide a promising link between stress and negative birth outcomes, but little is known about coping among healthy pregnant women, who comprise 50 percent of the PTB and LBW cases. This cross-sectional descriptive correlational survey describes the coping techniques of healthy pregnant women and examines the social and psychological factors associated with coping strategies. Lazarus and Folkman’s conceptualizations of stress and coping provide the conceptual framework. Participants were recruited from childbirth classes at two metropolitan hospitals, serving an ethnically diverse population. 159 healthy primigravidae, between 18 and 34 years of age, in their third trimester of pregnancy, participated in the study. Participants completed six questionnaires one time, at their convenience and returned the questionnaires to the childbirth classroom (64% return rate). Variables studied included demographic data, prenatal life events, depression symptoms, pregnancy distress, pregnancy coping, and general coping. Analyses in progress include descriptive statistics, reliability testing of instruments, and bivariate correlations. To determine what factors predict coping strategies in healthy pregnant women, a series of hierarchical multiple regressions will be carried out for each of the dependent variables (coping subscales). Results will contribute to better understanding of prenatal stress and coping in healthy pregnant women, the development of age-appropriate, culturally sensitive stress-reducing interventions, and ultimately reduction of PTB and LBW.
Session #1223 - Graduate Student Poster Session
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)