Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management Intervention on Anxiety and Depression during Pregnancy

Abstract: Background & Aims: Motherhood has been taken into account as an enjoyable and evolutionary event in women’s life, however, because of physical and mental changes; it can cause some degrees of stress and anxiety. The present study aimed to examine the effects of cognitive-behavior stress management (CBSM) training on the levels of anxiety and depression during the pregnancy. Methods: This was a semi-experimental study conducted in a pretest-posttest design with a control group. Using convenience sampling, thirty primiparous pregnant women were selected from those who have been referred to the health clinics; they were allocated into one of the experimental and control groups randomly. After completing the pretest, the experimental group subjected to 12 sessions of CBSM training. Data were collected using pregnancy related anxiety questionnaire (PRAQ) and Edinburgh Depression Questionnaire. Data were subjected to multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) design using software SPSS. Results: The results showed a statistically significant decrease in the posttest averages of anxiety and depression when compared to the pretest and the control group. The findings addressed the effectiveness of CBSM in relieving the levels of anxiety and depression during the pregnancy. Conclusion: We can benefit from psychological intervening; such as stress management using cognitive-behavior therapy in the medical and health centers. Keywords: Pregnancy, Anxiety, Depression, Cognitive-behavior stress managemen