The Effect of Counseling on Fathers' Stress and Anxiety During Pregnancy: a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Overview

Journal BMC Psychiatry

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2021 Apr 24

PMID 33892677

Citations 2

Authors

Maryam Mohammadpour

Sakineh Mohammad-Alizadeh Charandabi

Jamileh Malakouti

Mehriar Nadar Mohammadi

Mojgan Mirghafourvand

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy is a challenging period for mothers and fathers. This study aimed to investigate the effect of counseling on stress and anxiety levels of fathers.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 102 spouses of pregnant women in Ardabil, Iran. The participants were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group attended four 60-min counseling sessions at weekly intervals. The perceived stress and anxiety questionnaires were completed before and 4 weeks after the intervention.

Results: The mean scores of state anxiety in the intervention group decreased significantly 4 weeks after the intervention compared with the control group (MD: -2.4; 95%CI: - 4.7 to - 0.2; p = 0.030). Four weeks after the intervention, no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of trait anxiety (p = 0.472) and perceived stress (p = 0.635).

Conclusions: The findings indicate that counseling reduced state anxiety in expectant fathers; therefore, this intervention is recommended to be used to reduce fathers' anxiety.

Trial Registration: IRCT2017042910324N38 . Registered 25 June 2017.

Citing Articles

The Influence of the Partner's Involvement in Antenatal Genetic Group Counseling on Pregnant individuals' Scores on Tests of Vital Knowledge Relating to Pregnancy.

Anansirikasem T, Kongsomboon K, Hanprasertpong T Am J Perinatol. 2023; 41(S 01):e1623-e1630.

PMID: 36918158 PMC: 11136557. DOI: 10.1055/a-2054-0405.

The Effectiveness of Interventions for the Prevention or Treatment of Paternal Perinatal Anxiety: A Systematic Review.

Fisher M, Sutcliffe P, Southern C, Grove A, Tan B J Clin Med. 2022; 11(22).

PMID: 36431094 PMC: 9692859. DOI: 10.3390/jcm11226617.

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