The Relationship of Depression, Anxiety and Stress with Childbirth Self-Efficacy in Nulliparous Pregnant Women

Introduction: Many changes occur during pregnancy that lead to increased depression, anxiety, and distress, and on the other hand, self-efficacy affects all aspects of behavior and emotional activities such as anxiety and stress. Therefore, since the need for further research on prenatal psychological issues is emphasized and no research has been done in this field in our country; this study was aimed to determine the relationship of depression, anxiety, and stress with childbirth self-efficacy in nulliparous pregnant women. Methods: This study is a descriptive- predictor correlation study that it is done over 323 nulliparous pregnant women referring to health centers in Zahedan city in 2020-2021. Data were collected using Individual questionnaire, Lowe childbirth self-efficacy questionnaire and DASS21 scale. The data was analyzed using Spearman correlation coefficients test, Liner regressions model and Multiple regression in SPSS version 22. A statistical significance was deemed present when the P-value was less than0.05. Results: Results of Spearman correlation coefficients test didn’t show a significant direct correlation between childbirth self-efficacy with depression, anxiety and stress (P>0.05). According to Liner regressions model, none of the variables of depression, anxiety and stress had a significant level of less than 0.05 and isn’t considered as a predictor variable of childbirth self-efficacy(P>0.05). Conclusions: Since there is no significant relationship between depression, anxiety and stress with childbirth self-efficacy in nulliparous pregnant women, it is suggested that more studies be conducted in this field with in other societies and on nulliparous and multiparous pregnant women.