The Relationship between Rumination and Experiential Avoidance with Depression during Pregnancy

The presence of mental problems and illnesses during pregnancy, in addition to the pregnant woman, also has a negative effect on the fetus and the prevalence of depression during pregnancy is higher than the general female population. Therefore, present research aimed to determining the relationship between rumination and experiential avoidance with depression during pregnancy.

This study was descriptive from type of correlation. The study population was depressed pregnant women referred to Yas Hospital affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2019 year. Number of 150 people after reviewing the inclusion criteria to research was selected by purposive sampling method. Data were collected with questionnaires of Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow rumination, Bond & et al experiential avoidance and Cox & et al depression during pregnancy and were analyzed by methods of Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression with enter model with using SPSS-21 software.

The findings showed that rumination (r=0.472) and experiential avoidance (r=0.424) had a positive and significant relationship with depression during pregnancy. Also, the variables of rumination and experiential avoidance were able to explain 28.1% of the changes of depression during pregnancy that the share of rumination was more than experimental avoidance (P<0.01).

According to the results, rumination and experimental avoidance had an effective role in predicting depression during pregnancy. Therefore, planning to reduce rumination and experience avoidance in pregnant women through workshops is essential to reduce depression during pregnancy.