Correlation between self-esteem and perceived stress in pregnancy and ways to coping with stress

Abstract

Background and Aim: Stress during pregnancy can have long-term negative consequences on both mother and fetus. Therefore, recognizing the factors that contribute to controlling stress can have a major role in pregnant women’s mental health. The current research was designed to determine the role of self-esteem on the level of stress during pregnancy and the ways to cope with it. Materials and Methods: In this regard, a cross-sectional study was conducted. The city of Tehran was divided into 4 geographic districts including north, south, east and west. A state hospital was elected for each district, and 450 pregnant women (24-32 of gestational week) were randomly chosen from the hospitals. After explaining the purpose of the study and obtaining an informed consent from the qualified pregnant women, they filled out the perceived stress, Rosenberg Self-Esteem and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 19. The level of significance was considered p<0.05. Results: The age of the 450 participating pregnant women was 28.55 years, 78.9 percent had high school or lower education, and 90 percent were housewives. In this study, self-esteem was 21.918.33 and the perceived stress was 20.094.5, respectively. There was a significant inverse correlation between self-esteem and perceived stress. A significant difference was observed between individuals with different levels of self-esteem and the coping styles. ‍Conclusion: It appears that the level of self-esteem of pregnant women is effective on their level of stress and their coping style. By teaching techniques, which increase self-esteem, the level of stress can be decreased in pregnant women