Pregnancy-Specific Stress and Life Satisfaction in Pregnant Women

Original Study

Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Pregnancy-Specific Stress and Life Satisfaction in Pregnant Women

Anjali Vyas , Dr. Suresh Makvana

DIP: 18.02.005/20251001

DOI: 10.25215/2455/1001005

Received: January 30, 2025; Revision Received: February 02, 2025; Accepted: February 06, 2025

Abstract

Pregnancy is a transformative phase in a woman’s life, marked by profound psychological and emotional changes that can be intense and significantly impact overall well-being. Parity, which refers to whether a woman is experiencing her first pregnancy (nulliparous) or the second one (primiparous), plays a crucial role in shaping maternal experiences, expectations, and coping mechanisms. Against this backdrop, the study examines the relationship between pregnancy-specific stress and life satisfaction in pregnant women, while also assessing differences in these variables based on parity. Using a cross-sectional design, 109 pregnant women were recruited from urban maternity clinics in Gujarat and online platforms. Of these, 57 were nulliparous, and 52 were primiparous. Participants completed the Pregnancy Stress Rating Scale (Chen, 2015) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, 1985). Pearson’s correlation and independent samples t-tests were used to examine the relationship between pregnancy-specific stress and life satisfaction, and to analyze parity-based differences, respectively. The findings revealed a significant negative correlation between pregnancy-specific stress and life satisfaction. Additionally, parity-based differences emerged in specific dimensions of pregnancy-specific stress, indicating unique experiences for nulliparous and primiparous women. These results highlight the importance of addressing parity-specific psychosocial and cultural factors, such as support systems and societal expectations, to better understand their impact on maternal well-being. The findings emphasize the need for further research into the dimensions of pregnancy-specific stress and life satisfaction, with a focus on developing targeted interventions that consider parity to improve maternal mental health and overall life satisfaction.

Keywords

The author(s) appreciates all those who participated in the study and helped to facilitate the research process.

The author(s) declared no conflict of interest.

This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Responding Author Information

Anjali Vyas @ anjalivyasofficial@gmail.com

Pregnancy-Specific Stress and Life Satisfaction in Pregnant Women

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Article Overview

ISSN 2455-670X

DIP: 18.02.005/20251001

DOI: 10.25215/2455/1001005

Published in

Volume 10, Issue 1, January – March, 2025

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