The relation of life stress and social support to emotional disequilibrium during pregnancy.
A convenience sample of 141 medically normal adult women in the mid-trimester of pregnancy were tested with standardized instruments during a routine prenatal visit. Life stress was measured for the 12-month-period preceding testing. The dependent variable, emotional disequilibrium, was a factor-analyzed construct derived from measures of state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Life stress accounted for 29.71% of the variance in emotional disequilibrium (p = .0001), and social support accounted for a separate and non-interactive 3.11% of the variance (p = .01). Emotional disequilibrium in pregnancy decreased as a function of decreasing life stress and increasing social support.
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*