Pregnancy Anxiety and Associated Factors in Pregnant Women

Background: Pregnancy anxiety that threatens maternal mental health has a negative impact on pregnancy outcomes and can develop even in a healthy pregnant woman with no depression or anxiety problems. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate pregnancy anxiety and its related factors in pregnant women. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was performed on 322 pregnant women who were registered at health centers from November 2018 to March 2018. A random sampling method was applied to select eight health centers in the city. Using the SIB system, 40 pregnant women were randomly selected in each center. Selected women who came to health centers to receive prenatal care filled out the revised version of the Farsi anxiety scale for pregnancy (F-ASP-R). Inclusion criteria were, having the ability to read and lack of psychological disorders requiring treatment. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 18 and student t-test, analysis of variance, and multiple regression analyses. Results: The mean score of the F-ASP-R was 32.63 ± 8.9 out of 56, and 49.7% of the study participants scored below the average. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the F-ASP-R was 0.867. Multiple regression analyses showed that unwanted pregnancy (P = 0.008), a history of hospitalization in pregnancy (P = 0.044), lack of knowledge about analgesia during labor (P = 0.019), a history of dysmenorrhea (P 0.001), poor spousal emotional support (P = 0.001), and perceived poor health (P 0.001) were independent risk factors of pregnancy anxiety. Conclusions: Intervention is necessary to reduce pregnancy anxiety in women with an unwanted pregnancy, a history of dysmenorrhea or hospitalization in pregnancy, poor spousal emotional support, and perceived poor health.