Predicting attitudes toward cesarean section in pregnant women based on trait anxiety, catastrophic pain and perceived stress

The present study was conducted to predict the attitudes of primiparous pregnant women towards cesarean delivery considering trait anxiety, pain catastrophizing, and perceived stress. The research design was correlational. The statistical population included all primiparous pregnant women who gave birth in Isfahan in 2020-2021 and had a pregnancy record in a comprehensive health service center in Isfahan. By considering the geographical region of the health centers and selecting the sample from all five geographical regions (i.e., North, South, East, West, and Center), it was attempted to include the different cultural and economic backgrounds of the participants. Finally, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the data of 80 pregnant women were analyzed. The instruments included the Attitude toward Delivery Mode (ADM) questionnaire (Ghadimi, et al., 2014), Speilberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Speilberger, 1983), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS; Rahmati et al., 2017), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen et al., 1983). The results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test, Skewness, and kurtosis showed that the data were normal. In addition, the Pearson correlation showed that attitudes to cesarean delivery had a positive relation with all of the three variables (i.e., trait-anxiety, catastrophic pain, and perceived stress); an increase in one variable led to a positive attitude towards cesarean delivery. Moreover, the stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that trait anxiety, catastrophic pain, and perceived stress could predict the attitudes towards cesarean, respectively. In sum, these three variables explained 30% of the variance in the attitudes of primiparous pregnant women towards cesarean delivery. Having provided negative emotional experiences, trait-anxiety along with pain catastrophizing and perceived stress was effective in the positive attitudes of primiparous pregnant women towards cesarean.