The Effectiveness of Adlerian Group Counseling Approach on Mother's Distress and Self-care During Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Distress is the most perceived behavioral state manifested by pregnant women and can directly or indirectly increase the risk of experiencing prenatal complications.

The present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the Adlerian group counseling approach on a mother's distress and self-care during pregnancy.

This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 79 eligible pregnant women referred to seven community health centers in Karaj City, Iran, from March 2018 to December 2019. The eligible women were assigned to the intervention (n=40) and control (n=39) groups using the block randomization method. The intervention group (gestational age of 22-32 weeks) received the Adlerian group counseling approach, while the control group received routine individual counseling. The study data were collected using the quality of prenatal self-care questionnaire and prenatal distress questionnaire at three time points; baseline, after, and one month after the intervention or routine counseling. The study data were analyzed by the Chi-squared test, Fisher exact test, and independent t test, as well as repeated measures analysis of variance.

The mean ± SD ages of the intervention and the control groups were 23.39±2.85 and  23.39±2.85 years, respectively. After the intervention, the results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups regarding the changes in the mean scores of prenatal distresses (P=0.0001) and four domains (physical health, behavioral assessment, healthy relationships, and social health) of self-care (P=0.0001). 

The Adlerian group counseling approach effectively improved prenatal distress and self-care during pregnancy.