The relationship between perceived stress and health-promoting behaviors in high-risk pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between maternal perceived stress and health-promoting self-care behaviors in women experiencing high-risk pregnancies.


METHODS
Descriptive correlational.


METHODS
Women (N=69) who had a complication in pregnancy that required referral to a perinatologist at a tertiary care center and ere in the third trimester of pregnancy.


METHODS
The Perceived Stress Scale is a 14-item scale measuring the extent to which one appraises life situations as stressful. Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II is a 52-item scale from which scores for an overall health promotion scale and 6 subscales (health responsibility, physical activity, nutrition, spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, and stress management) are calculated.


RESULTS
There was a significant and negative relationship between perceived stress and health-promoting lifestyle. The relationships between perceived stress and spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, and stress management were significant and negative.


CONCLUSIONS
During a high-risk pregnancy, women who engage in more health-promoting behaviors may experience less stress; however, the causal relationship between stress and health promotion is not known. Nurses can offer stress management techniques and health-promoting self-care during this stressful time to encourage health in mother and neonate.
Stark
Mary Ann
MA
Bronson School of Nursing, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo 49008, USA. mary.stark@wmich.edu
Brinkley
Renee L
RL
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D015146:Midwestern United States; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk / Q000523:psychology*; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*