Abstract
In clinical care settings, religiosity may serve as an important source of support for coping with the prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormalities. This study evaluated the influence of religiosity on the situational coping of 28 pregnant women with fetal abnormalities. The study was approved by the institutional research ethics committee, and the informed consent document was obtained from all participants included in this study. Validated measures of religiosity and situational coping were used to evaluate data collected. Practical religiosity but not intrinsic religiosity correlated positively and significantly with coping scores. However, the severity of the fetal malformations did not correlate significantly with the scores of maternal coping. The results showed that religious practices were associated with improved coping in women diagnosed with fetal abnormalities and should be encouraged in care settings.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altman, D. G. (1991). Practical statistics for medical research. London: Chapman & Hall/CRC.
Ambrosini, A., & Stanghellini, G. (2012). Myths of motherhood. The role of culture in the development of postpartum depression. Annali dell’Istituto Supirori di Sanita, 48(3), 277–286.
Amorim, L. F., Pires, C. A., Lana, A. M., Campos, A. S., Aguiar, R. A., Tibúrcio, J. D., et al. (2008). Presentation of congenital heart disease diagnosed at birth: Analysis of 29,770 newborn infants. Journal of Pediatrics (Rio J), 84(1), 83–90.
Benute, G. R., Nomura, R. M., Liao, A. W., Brizot, M. L., Lucia, M. C., & Zugaib, M. (2012). Feelings of women regarding end-of-life decision making after ultrasound diagnosis of a lethal fetal malformation. Midwifery, 28(4), 472–475.
Bortoletti F. F., Moron A. F., Bortoletti Filho J., Nakamura M. U., Santana R. M., & Mattar R. (2007). Assistência psicológica em medicina fetal (psychological care in fetal medicine). Psicologia na Prática Obstétrica—Abordagem Interdisciplinar (psychology in obstetrical care setting—Interdisciplinar approach). São Paulo: Manole (pp. 61–66).
Brazil. Ministry of Health and Secretary of Science and Technology. (2017). Summary of evidence for health policies: Early diagnosis of congenital heart disease (text in Portuguese). Brasilia: Ministry of Health Publishing House.
CERIS. (2015). Anuário Católico do Brasil 2015 (catholic yearbook of Brazil 2015). CERIS & Promocat Marketing. Retrieved September 12, 2019 from http://www.ceris.org.br/anuario-catolico-do-brasil/.
Cope, H., Garrett, M. E., Gregory, S., & Ashley-Koch, A. (2015). Pregnancy continuation and organizational religious activity following prenatal diagnosis of a lethal fetal defect are associated with improved psychological outcome. Prenatal Diagnosis, 35(8), 761–768.
Dale, M. T., Solberg, O., Holmstrøm, H., Landolt, M. A., Eskedal, L. T., & Vollrath, M. E. (2012). Mothers of infants with congenital heart defects: Well-being from pregnancy through the child’s first six months. Quality of Life Research, 21(1), 115–122.
Douglas, S., & Michaels, M. (2005). The mommy myth: The idealization of motherhood and how it has undermined all women paperback. New York: Free Press.
Dupont, W. D., & Plummer, W. D. (2014). PS: Power and sample size calculation, version 3.1.2. Vanderbilt: Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University.
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1980). An analysis of coping in a midle-aged community sample. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21, 219–239.
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A., & Gruen, R. J. (1986). Dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(5), 992–1003.
Gagnon, A., Wilson, R. D., Allen, V. M., Audibert, F., Blight, C., Brock, J. A., et al. (2009). Society of obstetricians and gynaecologists of Canada. Evaluation of prenatally diagnosed structural congenital anomalies. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, 31(9), 875–881.
Gorayeb, R. P., Gorayeb, R., Berezowski, A. T., & Duarte, G. (2013). Effectiveness of psychological intervention for treating symptoms of anxiety and depression among pregnant women diagnosed with fetal malformation. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics., 121(2), 123–126.
Götzmann, L., Schönholzer, S. M., Kölble, N., Klaghofer, R., Scheuer, E., Zimmermann, R., et al. (2002). Suspected fetal malformation in ultrasound examination: Effects on the psychological well-being of pregnant women. Ultraschall in der Medizin, 23(1), 33–40.
Hill, P. C., Pargament, K., Hood, R. W., McCullough, M. E., Swyers, J. P., Larson, D. B., et al. (2000). Conceptualizing religion and spirituality: Points of commonality, points of departure. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 30, 51–77.
Hom, L. A., Silber, T. J., Ennis-Durstine, K., Hilliard, M. A., & Martin, G. R. (2016). Legal and ethical considerations in allowing parental exemptions from Newborn Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) screening. American Journal of Bioethics, 16(1), 11–17.
Jackson, A. C., Frydenberg, E., Liang, R. P., Higgins, R. O., & Murphy, B. M. (2015). Familial impact and coping with child heart disease: A systematic review. Pediatric Cardiology, 36(4), 695–712.
Jystad, K. P., Strand, K. M., Bjellmo, S., Lydersen, S., Klungsöyr, K., Stoknes, M., et al. (2017). Congenital anomalies and the severity of impairments for cerebral palsy. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 59(11), 1174–1180.
Kaufmann, W. (1996). I and thou (M. Buber (1923) Trans.). New York: Simon and Schuster.
Koenig, H. G., & Büssing, A. (2010). The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL): A five-item measure for use in epidemological studies. Religion Journal, 1, 78–85.
Lalor, J., Begley, C. M., & Galavan, E. (2009). Recasting hope: A process of adaptation following fetal anomaly diagnosis. Society Science & Medicine, 68(3), 462–472.
Letter of James. (1994). Faith and actions. Good News bible. United Bible Society, 2, 14–26.
Leuthner, S., Bolger, M., Frommelt, M., & Nelson, R. (2003). The impact of abnormal fetal echocardiography on expectant parents’ experience of pregnancy: A pilot study. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 24, 121–129.
Martinez, E. Z., Alves, A. C., Carneiro, A. F., Jorge, T. M., Carvalho, A. C., & Zucoloto, M. L. (2014). Assessment of the psychometric properties of the Duke Religious Index scale in the context of the public health research. Cadernos de Saúde Coletiva, 22(4), 419–427.
Miller, A., Riehle-Colarusso, T., Alverson, C. J., Frias, J. L., & Correa, A. (2011). Congenital heart defects and major structural noncardiac anomalies, Atlanta, Georgia, 1968 to 2005. Journal of Pediatrics, 159, 70–78.
Moreira-Almeida, A., Peres, M. F., Aloe, F., Lotufo, N. F., & Koenig, H. G. (2008). Portuguese version of Duke Religious Index: DUREL. Revista de Psiquiatria Clínica, 35(1), 31–32.
Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping: Theory, research, practice. New York: Guilford Press.
Pargament, K. I. (1999). The psychology of religion and spirituality? Yes and No. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 9, 3–16.
Rosa, R. C., Rosa, R. F., Zen, P. R., & Paskulin, G. A. (2013). Congenital heart defects and extracardiac malformations. Revista Paulista de Pediatria, 31(2), 243–251.
Seidl, E. M. F., Trocoli, B. T., & Zanon, C. M. C. (2001). Análise fatorial de uma medida de estratégias de enfrentamento (factorial analysis of a coping measure). Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 17(3), 225–234.
Seidl, E. M., & Zannon, C. M. (2004). Quality of life and health: Conceptual and methodological issues. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 20(2), 580–588.
Senanayake, H., de Silva, D., Premaratne, S., & Kulatunge, M. (2006). Psychological reactions and coping strategies of Sri Lankan women carrying fetuses with lethal congenital malformations. Ceylon Medical Journal, 51(1), 14–17.
Sperling, D. (2009). From Iran to Latin America: Must prenatal diagnosis necessarily be provided with abortion for congenital abnormalities? American Journal of Bioethical, 9(8), 61–63.
Syngelaki, A., Chelemen, T., Dagklis, T., Allan, L., & Nicolaides, K. H. (2011). Challenges in the diagnosis of fetal non-chromosomal abnormalities at 11–13 weeks. Prenatal Diagnosis, 31(1), 90–102.
Thomas, A. N., McCullough, L. B., Chervenak, F. A., & Placencia, F. X. (2017). Evidence-based, ethically justified counseling for fetal bilateral renal agenesis. Journal of Perinatal Medicine, 45(5), 585–594.
Vitaliano, P. P., Russo, J., Carr, J. R., Maiuro, R. D., & Becker, J. (1985). The ways of coping checklist: Revision and psychometric properties. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 20(1), 3–26.
Von Zuben, N. A. (2008). A questão do inter-humano. Uma releitura de eu e tu, de Martin Buber (the question of inter-human. A rereading of I and You). Síntese - Revista da Filosofia, 35(111), 87–110.
Wilkinson, D., de Crespigny, L., & Xafis, V. (2014). Ethical language and decision-making for prenatally diagnosed lethal malformations. Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, 19(5), 306–311.
Wilkinson, D., Thiele, P., Watkins, A., & De Crespigny, L. (2012). Fatally flawed? A review and ethical analysis of lethal congenital malformations. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 119, 1302–1308.
World Medical Association. (2013). World Medical Association declaration of Helsinki: Ethical, principles for medical research envolving human subjects. Journal of American Medical Association, 310(20), 2191–2194.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Martins, P.H., Duarte, I.P.L., Leite, C.R.V.S. et al. Influence of Religiosity on Situational Coping Scores in Women with Malformed Fetuses. J Relig Health 59, 3071–3083 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00934-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00934-3