Navon-Eyal Meital, Taubman-Ben-Ari Orit
The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
J Reprod Infant Psychol. 2025 Jan;43(1):47-61. doi: 10.1080/02646838.2023.2222143. Epub 2023 Jun 9.
Pregnancy and anticipation of the birth of the first child is considered a happy and exciting time. However, the stress involved in pregnancy has been found to put women at greater risk of impaired psychological well-being, or higher distress. Confusion in the theoretical literature between the terms 'stress' and 'distress' makes it difficult to understand the underlying mechanism that may enhance or reduce psychological well-being. We suggest that maintaining this theoretical distinction and examining stress from different sources, may allow us to gain new knowledge regarding the psychological well-being of pregnant women.
Drawing on the Calming Cycle Theory, to examine a moderated mediation model for the explanation of the dynamic between two stress factors (COVID-19-related anxiety and pregnancy stress) that may pose a risk to psychological well-being, as well as the protective role of maternal-fetal bonding.
The sample consisted of 1,378 pregnant women who were expecting their first child, recruited through social media and completed self-report questionnaires.
The higher the COVID-19-related anxiety, the higher the pregnancy stress, which, in turn, was associated with lower psychological well-being. However, this effect was weaker among women who reported greater maternal-fetal bonding.
The study expands knowledge of the dynamic between stress factors and psychological well-being during pregnancy, and sheds light on the unexplored role of maternal-fetal bonding as a protective factor against stress.
怀孕以及期待第一个孩子的出生被认为是一段幸福且令人兴奋的时光。然而，人们发现怀孕过程中所涉及的压力会使女性面临心理健康受损或更高程度困扰的更大风险。理论文献中“压力”和“困扰”这两个术语的混淆使得难以理解可能增强或降低心理健康的潜在机制。我们认为，保持这种理论区分并从不同来源审视压力，可能会让我们获得有关孕妇心理健康的新知识。
借鉴平静循环理论，研究一个调节中介模型，以解释两种可能对心理健康构成风险的压力因素（与新冠疫情相关的焦虑和怀孕压力）之间的动态关系，以及母婴联结的保护作用。
样本包括1378名怀有头胎的孕妇，她们通过社交媒体招募而来，并完成了自我报告问卷。
与新冠疫情相关的焦虑越高，怀孕压力就越高，而怀孕压力又与较低的心理健康相关。然而，在报告母婴联结程度较高的女性中，这种影响较弱。
该研究扩展了对孕期压力因素与心理健康之间动态关系的认识，并揭示了母婴联结作为压力保护因素这一未被探索的作用。
