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Antenatal fear of childbirth and sense of coherence among healthy pregnant women in Japan: A cross-sectional study

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Abstract

While antenatal fear of childbirth (FOC) has been associated with many psychosocial variables, few studies have focused on individual stress resiliency. Sense of coherence (SOC) is one of the essential components of individual stress resiliency. This study investigates the relationship between antenatal FOC and SOC in Japanese healthy pregnant women. Self-reported questionnaires were distributed to 240 women at 37 gestational weeks at an obstetric clinic in Tokyo, Japan. Structural regression modeling was conducted to identify the causal relationships between FOC and SOC. The non-recursive model showed significant acceptance of fit (chi-square value/degree of freedom = 1.72, comparative fit index = 0.97, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.05). The model identified SOC as a direct cause of FOC (β = −0.89, p < 0.001), not a reflection of FOC. We found that SOC was negatively linked with antenatal fear of childbirth. High SOC works as a resiliency factor that helps pregnant women cope with the stress of their upcoming childbirth and reduces FOC.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research (23660058). The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Prof. Toshinori Kitamura, Dean, Kitamura Institute of Mental Health Tokyo for his great supervision and support. Finally, the authors would like to thank Dr. Haruyoshi Urano, all of the medical staff members, and all participants for their cooperation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Midwifery and Women’s Health, Division of Health Sciences & Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Mizuki Takegata, Megumi Haruna, Masayo Matsuzaki & Mie Shiraishi

  2. Center of Physical and Mental Health, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya-cho, Tsu City, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Tadaharu Okano

  3. Centre for Women’s Family & Child Health, Department of Nursing Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Vestfold University College, P.O. Box 2243, N-3103, Borre, Norway

    Elisabeth Severinsson

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  1. Mizuki Takegata
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  2. Megumi Haruna
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  3. Masayo Matsuzaki
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  4. Mie Shiraishi
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  5. Tadaharu Okano
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  6. Elisabeth Severinsson
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Correspondence to Megumi Haruna.

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Takegata, M., Haruna, M., Matsuzaki, M. et al. Antenatal fear of childbirth and sense of coherence among healthy pregnant women in Japan: A cross-sectional study. Arch Womens Ment Health 17, 403–409 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-014-0415-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-014-0415-x

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