Prenatal stress self-help mindfulness intervention via social media: a randomized controlled trial

• Published in: Journal of mental health (Abingdon, England) England), 2023-02, Vol.32 (1), p.206-215
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xuan, Lin, Pingzhen, Sun, Jiwei, Sun, Yaoyao, Shao, Di, Cao, Danfeng, Cao, Fenglin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety - psychology; Clinical trials; Depression - prevention & control; Depression - psychology; Education groups; Fatigue; Female; Health education; Humans; Intervention; Mindfulness; Mindfulness - methods; Negative emotions; Positive emotions; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women - psychology; Prenatal care; prenatal stress; Psychosocial factors; Psychosocial intervention; randomized controlled trial; Self help; Self report; Social Media; Stress; Stress, Psychological - prevention & control; Stress, Psychological - psychology
• ISSN: 0963-8237; 1360-0567
• DOI: 10.1080/09638237.2021.1952947

Prenatal stress is a pressing issue. However, there is a lack of robust evidence for psychosocial interventions to manage this problem. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention on reducing prenatal stress compared to participation in health education groups. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in a prenatal clinic of comprehensive tertiary care from April to October 2017. A total of 108 pregnant women were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. Participants completed self-report measures of depression, anxiety, perceived stress, fatigue, positive and negative affect, and mindfulness before, immediately after, and 15 weeks after the 4-week intervention period. Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the intervention outcomes. The results supported greater improvement in terms of perceived stress (Wald χ 2 =26.94, p