[Cognitive-behavioral therapy as a damper of the negative psychological effects of confinement by COVID-19 on pregnant women.].

OBJECTIVE

The pandemic caused by COVID-19, at a psychological level, can cause an increase in levels of stress and anxiety due to the fear of contagion and its consequences. Pregnant women are especially vulnerable to these psychological consequences. Thus, the objective of this study was to verify the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral stress control program in reducing psychological stress and increasing resilience in pregnant women, which ended at the begining of the confinement due to COVID-19 in Spain.

METHODS

The study included 22 pregnant women who were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (GT) consisted of 11 participants and the control group (GC) also consisted of 11 participants. Participants were recruited from the Hospital Universitario Clínico San Cecilio in the province of Granada (Spain), where the weekly cognitive behavioral intervention was also carried out, which was implemented between January 22 and March 11, 2020. They used the assessment instruments: Pregnancy Distress Questionnaire (PDQ), Perceived Stress Scale (EEP-14), Inventory of Vulnerability to Stress (IVE) and Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). A mixed ANOVA of repeated measures 2*2 was performed, with the variable between groups having two levels (CG and GT), and the within-subject having two time periods (pre and post).

RESULTS

The repeated measures ANOVA analysis showed group*time interaction effects between the therapy group and the control group and the CD-RISC scores (F=10.658; p<0.02). Intrasubject differences in CD-RISC scores were found in the (GT) (t=-2.529; p<0.05), with a moderate effect size.

CONCLUSIONS

It can be affirmed that cognitive behavioral intervention in pregnant women, administrated prior to confinement in Spain and during the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in increased levels of resilience in this population.