Sense of coherence, perceived social support and stress coping strategies of pregnant women

The article investigates the peculiarities of sense of coherence, perceived social support, stress coping strategies of pregnant women and the relationship between these aspects. It was attempted to predict stress coping strategies with reference to sense of coherence and perceived social support. 210 pregnant women (20-42 years old) attending the Antenatal Health School of Dr Semeta participated in the survey. Life Orientation Questionnaire (Antonovsky, 1987) was used in order to evaluate sense of coherence of pregnant women; Coping with Stress Questionnaire (Grakauskas, Valickas, 2006) was used to determine coping with stress strategies; the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988) was used in order to measure the perceived social support. The research revealed that pregnant women with low sense of coherence used more of emotional discharge and stress avoidance strategies. As sense of coherence of pregnant women was grown, the problem solving stress coping strategy was used more often. The results of the research showed that together with the growth sense of coherence of the perceived social support also raised. The results of regression analysis showed that sense of meaningfulness allowed predicting coping strategies of social support and problem solving, whereas sense of comprehensibility allowed predicting the strategies of emotional discharge and stress avoidance. The perceived social support of pregnant women let stress coping strategies to be predictedVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŠvietimo akademij