Effectiveness of Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) On Anxiety, and Psychological Well-Being of Nulliparous Pregnant Women

Background Objective:

Most women experience changes in physical symptoms during pregnancy as well as in relationships with others, which have a direct impact on the well-being of mother and baby. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on anxiety, and psychological well-being, of nulliparous pregnant women.

The present study was applied research and in terms of research method was quasi-experimental research of pre-test-post-test and follow-up research with a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all nulliparous pregnant women referred to Boo Ali hospital and Hazrat Amir hospital in Tehran in 2019, among which 30 eligible pregnant women were selected purposefully and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (each group of 15). Data were obtained using the Psychological Well-Being Questionnaire (Ryff, 1989), and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck, 1997). Data were analyzed using repeated measure analysis of variance using SPSS.22 software.

The findings showed that Mindfulness-based stress reduction training significantly improved anxiety (P<0.001), and psychological well-being (P<0.001) in the experimental group after the test and follow-up, but the scores of anxiety, and psychological well-being in the control group did not change.

Based on the findings of this study, it can be said that Mindfulness-based stress reduction was effective on anxiety, and psychological well-being of nulliparous pregnant women, and this method can be used to improve mental health problems.