Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Department of Midwifery, Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
2 Department of Midwifery, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Happiness is among the factors that promote mental health in mothers with
unplanned pregnancy. The present study aimed to determine the impact of attachment skills training
on happiness among women with unplanned pregnancy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial was conducted on 84 women with unplanned
pregnancy referred to three prenatal clinics in Shiraz in 2018. The participants were randomly divided
into an intervention group and a control group using permutation block. At first, the participants were
requested to sign written informed consent form, demographic information form, and mental health
questionnaire. Then, they were asked to complete Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and Cranley’s
Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale. The intervention group received attachment training through six
90-min sessions, while the control group underwent the hospital’s routine care. The two groups were
required to fill out the study questionnaires once more after 4 weeks after the intervention. After all,
the data were analyzed using Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, independent t-test, and ANOVA.
RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the two groups’ pretest and posttest mean
scores of happiness (P = 0.0001). The results showed that in the experimental group, pretraining and
posttraining period mean scores were 89.64 (7.2) and 93.13 (6.09), respectively; while in the control
group, pretraining and posttraining period mean scores were, respectively, 91.69 (9.96) and 91 (8.82).
The difference between the two groups was statistically significant. No significant relationship was
observed between happiness and the couples’ occupations, number of pregnancies, and number
of miscarriages in the two groups (P > 0.05).
CONCLUSION: The mean score of happiness increased after the training, being significantly different
from that in the control group. Therefore, happiness is a changeable feature that can be promoted
among pregnant women via interventional methods.
Keywords
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