scholarly journals Fear of Coronavirus, Stress and Fear of Childbirth in Polish Pregnant Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author(s):  
Joanna Dymecka ◽  
Rafał Gerymski ◽  
Adrianna Iszczuk ◽  
Mariola Bidzan

The COVID-19 pandemic is the largest pandemic of an aggressive coronavirus in the human population in the 21st century. The pandemic may have a negative emotional impact on pregnant women, causing fear and stress. Negative feelings during pregnancy later affect fear of childbirth. Our study aimed to determine the relationship between fear of COVID-19, stress and fear of childbirth. We assume that fear of COVID-19 will be a mediator of the relationship between perceived stress and fear of childbirth. A total of 262 Polish pregnant women participated in this study. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FOC-6) and Labour Anxiety Questionnaire (KLP II) were used in the study. There was a statistically significant, moderate, and positive relationship between perceived stress, fear of COVID-19, and fear of childbirth. Fear of COVID-19 was a statistically significant mediator in the relationship between perceived stress and fear of childbirth. The COVID-19 epidemic may have a negative emotional impact on pregnant women, causing fear, stress and increased fear of childbirth. Childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic is perceived by women as a threat to their well-being and health. Therefore, it is especially important to support a woman in the perinatal period and to enable her to give birth to a child.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Dymecka ◽  
Rafał Gerymski ◽  
Adrianna Iszczuk ◽  
Mariola Bidzan

Abstract Background: COVID-19 pandemic is the largest pandemic of aggressive coronavirus in the human population in the 21st century. The pandemic may have a negative emotional impact on pregnant women, causing fear and stress. Negative feelings during pregnancy affect the later fear of childbirth. Objective: Out study aimed to determine the relationship between fear of COVID-19, stress and fear of childbirth. We assume that fear of COVID-19 will be a mediator of the relationship between perceived stress and fear of childbirth. Methods: 262 Polish pregnant women participated in this study. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FOC-6), and Labour Anxiety Questionnaire (KLP II) were used in the study. Results: There was a statistically significant, moderate, and positive relationship between perceived stress, fear of COVID-19, and fear of childbirth. Fear of COVID-19 was a statistically significant mediator in the relationship between perceived stress and fear of childbirth Conclusions: The COVID-19 epidemic may have a negative emotional impact on pregnant women, causing fear, stress, and increased fear of childbirth. Childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic is perceived by women as a threat to their well-being and health. Therefore, it is especially important to support a woman in the perinatal period and to enable her to give birth to a companion.


Author(s):  
Melanie K. T. Takarangi ◽  
Deryn Strange

When people are told that their negative memories are worse than other people’s, do they later remember those events differently? We asked participants to recall a recent negative memory then, 24 h later, we gave some participants feedback about the emotional impact of their event – stating it was more or less negative compared to other people’s experiences. One week later, participants recalled the event again. We predicted that if feedback affected how participants remembered their negative experiences, their ratings of the memory’s characteristics should change over time. That is, when participants are told that their negative event is extremely negative, their memories should be more vivid, recollected strongly, and remembered from a personal perspective, compared to participants in the other conditions. Our results provide support for this hypothesis. We suggest that external feedback might be a potential mechanism in the relationship between negative memories and psychological well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vartika Kapoor ◽  
Jaya Yadav ◽  
Lata Bajpai ◽  
Shalini Srivastava

PurposeThe present study examines the mediating role of teleworking and the moderating role of resilience in explaining the relationship between perceived stress and psychological well-being of working mothers in India. Conservation of resource theory (COR) is taken to support the present study.Design/methodology/approachThe data of 326 respondents has been collected from working mothers in various sectors of Delhi NCR region of India. Confirmatory factor analysis was used for construct validity, and SPSS Macro Process (Hayes) was used for testing the hypotheses.FindingsThe results of the study found an inverse association between perceived stress and psychological well-being. Teleworking acted as a partial mediator and resilience proved to be a significant moderator for teleworking-well-being relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based at Delhi NCR of India, and future studies may be based on a diverse population within the country to generalize the findings in different cultural and industrial contexts. The present work is based only on the psychological well-being of the working mothers, it can be extended to study the organizational stress for both the genders and other demographic variables.Practical implicationsThe study extends the research on perceived stress and teleworking by empirically testing the association between perceived stress and psychological well-being in the presence of teleworking as a mediating variable. The findings suggest some practical implications for HR managers and OD Practitioners. The organizations must develop a plan to support working mothers by providing flexible working hours and arranging online stress management programs for them.Originality/valueAlthough teleworking is studied previously, there is a scarcity of research examining the impact of teleworking on psychological well-being of working mothers in Asian context. It would help in understanding the process that how teleworking has been stressful for working mothers and also deliberate the role of resilience in the relationship between teleworking and psychological well-being due to perceived stress, as it seems a ray of hope in new normal work situations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-78
Author(s):  
Lindsay Bartkowski

Scholarly and journalistic investigations of content moderation have thoroughly documented its emotional impact on workers, but have yet to analyze moderation as care labor. Out of sight from U.S. and European consumers, content moderators are hired by third-party outsourcing firms primarily in the Philippines or India to remove offensive or violent content from internet platforms in order to preserve their profitability and users’ emotional well-being. Situating content moderation in the long history of domestic labor relations in the U.S., which were designed to support the expansion of imperial power, this essay proposes new ways of understanding the relationship between affective labor and the procedures of empire.


Author(s):  
Marta Makara-Studzińska ◽  
Kornelia Zaręba ◽  
Natalia Kawa ◽  
Dorota Matuszyk

SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus emerged in the world at the end of 2019. The introduction of a number of restrictions had a significant effect on numerous aspects of human life with particular influence being exerted on pregnant women and their sense of security. The study aimed to assess the level of anxiety and its main determinants in women in the third trimester of pregnancy during the coronavirus pandemic. The study technique included the present purposely designed questionnaire, Labor Anxiety Questionnaire (KLPII), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The study was conducted in a group of 315 women in the third trimester of pregnancy. A total of 258 women (81.9%) completed the questionnaire in May 2020, and 57 of them (18.1%) completed it in October 2020. The overall analysis of the Labor Anxiety Questionnaire and the STAI inventory revealed a high level of anxiety, particularly situational anxiety, in pregnant women during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The age and financial status of the women were the factors which contributed to the intensification of tokophobia. Women interviewed in October 2020 were characterized by higher tokophobia levels compared to the respondents included in May 2020. It seems justified to in-crease the vigilance in the diagnostics of possible mental disorders in the perinatal period during pandemic.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1152
Author(s):  
Simona Najpaverova ◽  
Miroslav Kovarik ◽  
Marian Kacerovsky ◽  
Zdenek Zadak ◽  
Miloslav Hronek

Maternal nutrition and metabolism play important roles for the well-being of both mother and fetus during pregnancy. This longitudinal study brings an original evaluation of the relationship between the nutritional energy and macronutrients intake (NEMI) and pregnancy outcomes and an assessment of the changes in such intake over the previous ten years. Sixty-five healthy Czech pregnant women were examined in three pregnancy periods (1st: 17th–27th; 2nd: 28th–35th; 3rd: 36th–38th gestational weeks). Results of 7-day dietary records were analyzed using NutriDan software. Energy intake decreased from 30.0 kcal/kg to 25.0 kcal/kg during pregnancy. The data also showed a decrease in macronutrients intake (p < 0.0001) with the advancing stage of pregnancy. Positive correlations were demonstrated between NEMI and birth weight (r = 0.410, p < 0.001). In the second pregnancy period, NEMI (excluding carbohydrates) positively associated with neonatal birth length (p < 0.01) and negatively with duration of birth (p < 0.05). An increased NEMI in the last period of pregnancy shortened the length of pregnancy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 380-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josep Gustems-Carnicer ◽  
Caterina Calderon ◽  
Alberto Batalla-Flores ◽  
Francisco Esteban-Bara

Stress in teacher education students is a key issue, due to its physical and social impact and its relevance to students’ future as professionals. This study uses the Perceived Stress Scale, the Coping Responses Inventory—Adult Form, and the Psychological Well-Being Scale to analyze how coping strategies mediate the relationship between stress and well-being in a sample of Spanish teacher education students (n = 334). The results show that the students had a good general level of psychological well-being, although with little personal growth and autonomy. Their level of stress meant that they could offer active, engaged responses, although the coping strategies that were used tended to be avoidance type, which could lead to certain adaptive difficulties. Our results also indicate that coping has a partial mediating role. Finally, organizational actions are proposed for universities that could help to enhance students’ personal resources for dealing with stress.


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