Survey on Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management on the Stress, Anxiety, and Depression of Pregnant Women

Today many women are at risk of anxiety. Therefore، despite medical advances، a significant number of negative outcomes occur during pregnancy. Due to restrictions during pregnancy، psychological treatment is the most appropriate treatment method. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral stress management on the stress، anxiety، and depression of pregnant women.

From 80 pregnant women who had the highest score of stress، anxiety، and depression in the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-42) 24 were selected and assigned to two experimented and control groups (12 in each group). The experimental group received 8 weekly sessions in the Shahid Rajaei Health Centre in Shahreza، Iran. DASS-42 inventory with subscales of depression، anxiety، and stress was used as pre-test and post-test. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 16).

The results of covariance analysis showed that the mean score of mental states (stress، anxiety، and depression) in the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group in the post-test.

It is concluded that cognitive behavioral stress management can be used، as an interventional method، to decrease stress، anxiety، and depression during pregnancy.