Life satisfaction, depression and stress in women during pregnancy and first year postpartum - The role of personality traits, marital satisfaction and social support

Trudnoća i postpartalni period za žene su jedna od najvažnijih životnih tranzicija, koja se očituje u brojnim promjenama na osobnom i socijalnom planu. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati neke značajke psihičkog funkcioniranja žena (N=202) tijekom trudnoće i prve postpartalne godine. S tom svrhom provedeno je istraživanje u kojem su sudjelovale 64 trudnice i 138 majki jednog djeteta dobi od 8 do 10 mjeseci. Upitnicima i skalama samoprocjena ispitani su depresivnost, anksioznost, stres, zadovoljstvo životom i brakom te razina percipirane socijalne podrške. Testirane su razlike između trudnica i majki s obzirom na zadovoljstvo životom, brakom i razinu percipirane socijalne podrške, te razinu stresa, depresivnosti i anksioznosti. Rezultati istraživanja potvrdili su pretpostavku o povećanom stresu te nižem zadovoljstvu brakom kod majki u usporedbi s trudnicama, što je u skladu s prijašnjim istraživanjima tranzicije u roditeljstvo, a protumačeni su u kontekstu modela konflikta uloga. U skupini trudnica, kao značajan prediktor stresa i anksioznosti izdvojila se samo emocionalna stabilnost kao osobina ličnosti, dok je za razinu depresivnosti, pored emocionalne stabilnosti prediktivno i zadovoljstvo brakom. U skupini majki, zadovoljstvo brakom značajan je prediktor svih kriterijskih varijabli.Pregnancy and the postpartum period represent one of the most important life transitions for women which manifests itself in numerous changes at the personal and social level. The aim of this study was to examine some features of the psychological functioning of women (N = 202) during pregnancy and the first year postpartum. The study sample included 64 pregnant women and 138 mothers of one child aged eight to ten months. Depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, marital satisfaction, and the level of perceived social support were assessed by questionnaires and scales. Differences between pregnant women and mothers were tested with regard to life satisfaction, marital satisfaction and level of perceived social support, stress, anxiety and depression. The study results confirmed the hypothesis of increased stress and lower marital satisfaction of mothers in relation to pregnant women. This result is consistent with previous studies of transition to parenthood, and was interpreted in the context of role conflict models. Emotional stability significantly predicted the level of stress and anxiety in pregnant women. Apart from emotional stability, marital satisfaction was also a significant predictor for depression level. For mothers, marital satisfaction significantly predicted results in all of the criterion variables