Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program on Anxiety, and Psychological Well-Being of Nulliparous Pregnant Women

Abstract

Introduction and purpose: During pregnancy, most women experience changes in their bodies as well as their relationships with others which have a direct impact on the well-being of the mother and fetus. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on anxiety and psychological well-being of nulliparous pregnant women. Methods: The present applied quasi-experimental study was conducted based on a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all nulliparous pregnant women who referred to Boo Ali and Hazrat Amir hospitals in Tehran, Iran in 2019. In total, 30 eligible pregnant women were purposefully selected and randomly assigned to intervention (n=15) and control groups (n=15). The required data were obtained using the Psychological Well-Being Questionnaire (Ryff, 1989) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck, 1997). The collected data were analyzed using repeated measure analysis of variance in SPSS software (version 22). Results:According to the findings, the MBSR training significantly improved anxiety (P<0.001) and psychological well-being (P<0.001) of the intervention group at the post-test and follow-up stages. However, the scores of anxiety and psychological well-being in the control group did not change. Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be said that the MBSR program had positive effects on the anxiety and psychological well-being of nulliparous pregnant women and can be used to improve mental health problems.

Keywords

• anxiety
• mindfulness
• nulliparous pregnant mothers
• psychological wellbeing