Cognitive-Behavioral Group Training on Marital Satisfaction and Ineffective Beliefs in Pregnant Women Unable to Control the Fear of First Delivery

Marriage and pregnancy are vital events in womenchr('39')s lives and cause numerous changes in life, especially in the case of the first pregnancy. Fear of giving birth is among the major issues associated with pregnancy and postpartum. Irrational beliefs are exaggerated, inflexible, absolute, and unreal. Attitude toward life events and their interpretation could influence various aspects of life. Ineffective beliefs result in depression and mental health problems. Ineffective attitudes and beliefs lead to interpreting special situations negatively and decrease marital satisfaction. In women with the fear of first delivery, marital satisfaction and ineffective beliefs are considered as crucial in cognitive and behavioral training. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of Cognitive Behavioral Group Training (CBGT) on marital satisfaction and ineffective beliefs in pregnant women unable to control the fear of first delivery. CBGT focuses on identifying the problems of a mother during pregnancy, concerning motherhood, herself, and the world, and that she can cope with them. 

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest and an unequal control group. The statistical population consisted of pregnant women with the fear of first delivery referring to a health center in Quchan City, Iran, in the last quarter of 2018. The study samples were selected using Delivery Fear Scale (DFS). Accordingly, 39 pregnant women with the fear of delivery were selected and randomly divided into two experimental (n=20) and control group (n=19). They participated in the study voluntarily. The experimental group participated in CBGT (ten 90-min sessions). Three instruments were applied to collect the required data; Childbirth Attitude Questionnaire (CAQ; revised by Lowe, 2000, Jonez Irrational Beliefs Questionnaire (1986), and Afrooz Marital Satisfaction Scale (AMSS; by Afrooz and Ghodrati, 2011). Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the obtained data at the significance level of (α=0.05) in SPSS.

The results of the analysis of covariance showed that cognitive-behavioral group education had a significant effect on dysfunctional beliefs and marital satisfaction of women with fear of first childbirth (p=0.003) and 25.5% of the variance of dysfunctional marriages (p=0.007) and 37.5% of variance explains the marital satisfaction of a woman who is unable to control the fear of childbirth (p<0.001).

According to the present study findings, CBGT positively impacted ineffective beliefs and marital satisfaction in the studied pregnant women with the fear of first childbirth. It is recommended that this method be used to improve the relationship between pregnant women and their spouses during pregnancy.