Comparisons of Prenatal Stress, Symptom Distress, Social Support and Quality of Life Between Advanced-Age and Appropriate Reproductive Age Pregnant Women During the Third Trimester

• Main Authors: Hsin-Ying Chien, 簡心穎
• Other Authors: Meei-Ling Gau
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/12169911731661498206

碩士 === 國立臺北護理健康大學 === 護理助產研究所 === 101 === Purpose: To compare the differences of prenatal stress, symptom distress, social support and quality of life between advanced-aged and appropriate reproductive-aged pregnant women. And to further test the mediating effect of social support among women with prenatal stress, symptom distress and their quality of life. Method: A sample of 204 pregnant women in their third trimester was recruited from a regional hospital located in Northern Taipei. Pregnant women were divided into two groups evenly; the appropriate reproductive-aged group (102) was consisted of pregnant women between 20-34 years of age, and the advanced-aged group (102) was of women 35 years of age and above. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) primigravidae at 33–40 weeks of gestation, (2) a singleton pregnancy, (3) had no major obstetric or medical pregnancy complications according to the prenatal check chart, (4) the ability to speak, read, and write Chinese, and (5) willing to participate in the study. The questionnaires consisted of the Prenatal Stress Scale, the Symptom Distress Scale, the Social Support Scale, Taiwanese version of the short-form Quality of Life Questionnaire, and selected demographic, obstetrical, and health related questions. Results: Firstly, there were no statistically significant differences in pregnancy symptom distress, prenatal stress, social support, and quality of life between these two groups of women. Secondly, the relationships among prenatal stress, symptom distress, social support and quality of life (QOL) were significant in the expected directions. Prenatal stress and QOL were negatively correlated, symptom distress and QOL were negatively correlated, social support and QOL were positively correlated, and prenatal stress and symptom distress were positively correlated. Lastly, according to the SOBEL tests, the social support for the group of appropriate reproductive age pregnant women is a partial mediator in the relationship between symptom distress and prenatal stress. The social support is also a partial mediator in the relationship between symptom distress and QOL for the group of appropriate reproductive age pregnant women. However, for the advanced-aged group, social support did not have a mediating effect on the relationship between symptom distress and QOL, nor on the relationship between symptom distress and prenatal stress. Clinical applications/suggestions: Clinical nurses/midwives for pregnant women can play a significant role with psychological and social support activities or with programs to reduce prenatal stress, thus enhancing their quality of life.