The Relationship between Nausea-Vomiting during Pregnancy and Attachment Styles, Marital Adjustment, and Ways of Coping

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) and attachment styles in close relationships, marital adjustment, and ways of coping with stress. This study was performed in 2019 as an analytic case-control design. The study group consists of 60 pregnant women hospitalized with a nausea-vomiting/hyperemesis gravidarum diagnosis. The control group is composed of 64 pregnant women who applied for gynecology polyclinic for routine control. The participants were applied Pregnancy-Information Form, Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised (ECR-R), Marital Adjustment Test (MAT), and Coping Styles Inventory (CSI). It was observed that the scores of the pregnant women in the study group from the helpless approach subscale of CSI were significantly higher than the control group and no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of other scale scores. A negative correlation was found between the perceived severity of nausea and the seeking social support subscale of CSI in the study group. The study revealed findings that support the biopsychosocial approach to the etiology of NVP and showed that the women with NVP use a helpless approach in coping with stress and apply seeking social support as the severity of nausea decreases.

Disclosure statement

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Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.