Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Anxiety Stress Coping. 2022 May;35(3):313-322. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2021.1967937. Epub 2021 Aug 18.
Research suggests that the extent to which stress is perceived as enhancing or debilitating can impact how stress is experienced, stress reactions, and stress-related outcomes. Given that there is a salient perception of stress as harmful during pregnancy, our aim was to investigate stress mindsets as a moderator of established associations between prenatal stress and elevations in anxiety and depression.
A survey design was used, yielding cross-sectional and longitudinal data.
Participants ( = 388) completed a survey that included measures of stress, anxiety and depression, and stress mindsets during their pregnancy; a subset responded to a brief follow-up questionnaire assessing mental health outcomes six to eight weeks postpartum ( = 103).
Stress mindsets in pregnancy moderated the effect of perceived and pregnancy stress on prenatal anxiety and depression, as well as the effect of prenatal ratings of the pregnancy as a stressor on postpartum depression. The positive effect of stress on mental health outcomes grew stronger when stress was viewed as more debilitating, but was no longer significant when stress was viewed as more enhancing.
Though further research is needed, a positive stress mindset could be protective against some of the negative effects of prenatal stress.
研究表明，压力被感知为增强或削弱的程度会影响压力的体验、压力反应和与压力相关的结果。鉴于怀孕期间人们普遍认为压力是有害的，我们的目的是研究压力思维模式作为一种调节因素，以调节产前压力与焦虑和抑郁升高之间的既定关联。
采用调查设计，产生横断面和纵向数据。
参与者（n=388）在怀孕期间完成了一项包括压力、焦虑和抑郁以及压力思维模式测量的调查；一部分人在产后六到八周回复了一份简短的随访问卷，评估心理健康结果（n=103）。
怀孕期间的压力思维模式调节了感知压力和孕期压力对产前焦虑和抑郁的影响，以及孕期压力源对产后抑郁的影响。当压力被视为更具削弱性时，压力对心理健康结果的积极影响会增强，但当压力被视为更具增强性时，这种影响就不再显著。
尽管还需要进一步的研究，但积极的压力思维模式可能有助于预防一些产前压力的负面影响。
