Association between psychological status with perceived social support in pregnant women referring to Tabriz health centers

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the psychological status of pregnant women with perceived social support.

Method: In this cross-sectional study, 372 Iranian women were selected randomly via a two-stage cluster sampling method at the third trimester of pregnancy in healthcare centers of Tabriz-Iran. Data were collected using the socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire, perceived social support (PRQ-85) and the short form of depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21). The statistical tests including Spearman’s correlation, Mann–Whitney, Kruskal Wallis, and linear regression model were used for data.

Results: The mean (SD) score of perceived social support 131.5 (18.9) with a range of 25–175 was achieved. In terms of the scale of mental health, median (25–75 percentile) of the score of anxiety 4.0 (3.0–7.0), depression 1.0 (0.0–6.0), and stress 8.0 (0.6–10.0) was achieved. There was a significant negative correlation between perceived social support with anxiety (r = −.355, p < .001), depression (r = −.541, p < .001), and stress in women (r = −.302, p < .001).

Conclusions: The results of this study showed that social support affects the mental state of women in the third trimester of pregnancy and the levels of anxiety, depression, and stress decrease in pregnant women with increasing of social support.

Keywords:

• Pregnancy
• social support
• mental status

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Student Research Committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, as well as the participants and Tabriz health care personnel.

Disclosure statement

There was no conflict of interest for all the authors. This paper was a part of a M.S.C. thesis.