Applied Psychology

Applied Psychology

Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural therapy and psycho-education on fear of natural childbirth and its related variables

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
maryam ghazaei 1
Iran Davoudi 2
AbdolKazem Neysi 3
Mahnaz Mehrabizadeh Honarmand 3
Sodabeh BasakNejad 4
1 mashhad medical university
2 , assistant professor in clinical psycholog
3 Professor, Department of Psychology, Shahid Chamran University, Ahwaz, Iran
4 Associate professor, Department of Psychology, Shahid Chamran University, Ahwaz, Iran
Abstract
Aim: The aim of the current study was the determination of the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy in comparison with psycho-education, on the fear of childbirth and its related variables. Methods: Method was quasi-experimental and the statistical population of nulliparous women from Ahvaz was 8000. Among them 54 women who had the entrance criteria for being considered in the research were selected. Selection was based on participants’ availability and they were randomly assigned to three groups of 18 women. Research tools were Wijma, Wijma and Zar’s Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (1998) McCracken and Dhingra’s Pain Anxiety Symptoms (2002), Lowe’s Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory (1993), also nine sessions of 90-minute of cognitive-behavioral therapy Niminen (2016) and six sessions of  90-minute of psycho-education (Rouhi, Salmela‐Aro, Toivanen, Tokola, Halmesmäki & Saisto, 2013) for two times a week. After removing eight persons due to their absentees in two-thirds of sessions, the data of 46 persons were analyzed by the use of covariance method and comparison of two independent ratios. Results: Result revealed that cognitive behavioural therapy decreases the fear of childbirth (F= 70.64, P= 0.001), fear of pain (F= 4.25, P= 0.02) and increases the tendency to natural childbirth (Z= 3.12, P= 0.002) and self-efficacy of childbirth (F=108.73, P= 0.001) and its effectiveness on these variables is more than psychoeducation. Psychoeducation only led to the increase of self-efficacy of childbirth (F=108.73, P= 0.001) and a decrease of fear of childbirth (F= 70.64, P= 0.01). The difference in the final frequency of natural childbirth in the cognitive behavioural group with the control group (Z= 1.56, P= 0.1) and psychoeducation (Z= 0.7, P= 0.4) group was not significant. Conclusion: Snce cognitive behavioural therapy uses behavioural strategies and targets the irrational thoughts of women toward natural childbirth, it leads to the decrease of fear of childbirth. And more effective than psychological training in the aforementioned fields.
Keywords
fear
natural childbirth
pain
Self-Efficacy
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