Patterns of attention and experiences of post-traumatic stress symptoms following childbirth: an experimental study

Childbirth for some women can be experienced as a traumatic event whereby it is appraised as threatening to life and associated with feelings of fear, helplessness or horror. These women may develop symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder or its sub-clinical symptoms (post-traumatic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of women's mental health 2012-08, Vol.15 (4), p.289-296
Main Authors: Dale-Hewitt, Vanessa, Slade, Pauline, Wright, Ingram, Cree, Michelle, Tully, Chris
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attention
Childbirth
Childbirth & labor
Depression - diagnosis
Depression - psychology
Female
Humans
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Original Article
Parturition - psychology
Post traumatic stress disorder
Pregnancy
Psychiatry
Psychotherapy
Regression Analysis
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
Stroop Test
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Childbirth for some women can be experienced as a traumatic event whereby it is appraised as threatening to life and associated with feelings of fear, helplessness or horror. These women may develop symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder or its sub-clinical symptoms (post-traumatic stress, PTS). Cognitive processes such as attentional biases have been identified in individuals with PTS exposed to other traumatic events. This study used an experimental design (the modified Stroop task) to investigate the relationship between attentional biases and PTS symptoms in 50 women who experienced their labour and delivery as stressful and responded with fear, helplessness and horror. Attentional biases away from childbirth words were significantly associated with both symptoms of post-traumatic stress and more negative experiences of childbirth. A negative experience was also associated with more severe symptoms of PTS. Positive experiences were unassociated with attentional biases or symptoms. Post-traumatic stress responses, in this population, may be associated with avoidance, and through influencing cognitive processing, acting as a maintaining factor of distress.
ISSN:1434-1816
1435-1102
DOI:10.1007/s00737-012-0290-2