The Relationship of Personality Traits on Pregnant Women on Stress and Adaptation to Pregnancy

Abstract

Aim: This study examined the relationship of personality traits on pregnant women on stress and adaptation to pregnancy. Subject and Method: The study is of descriptive type and the sample of the study consisted of 250 pregnant women who applied to the obstetrics clinic of a state hospital. Data were collected using the Introductory Information Form, Cervantes Personality Scale (CPS), Prenatal Distress Scale (PDS), and Prenatal Self-Evaluation Scale (PSES). The data were evaluated with descriptive statistics, 't-test' and 'pearson correlation analysis' in the SPSS program. Results: It was found that the mean age of the pregnant women was 28.65±5.22 and the mean gestational week was 32.94±5.18, 68.4% of them were at least secondary school graduates and 82.4% of them did not work in any job. It was found that pregnant women were more introverted and emotionally stable, answered questions consistently, had low prenatal distress levels, and showed good pregnancy adjustment. A significant relationship was found between the PDS and PSES (p<0,001). Moreover, a significant relationship was also present between the sub-dimensions of emotional balance/neuroticism and consistency/inconsistency, and PDS and PSES scores (p<0,001). Conclusion: It was observed that as the stress level of pregnant women increased, their adaptation to pregnancy decreased, especially women with neurotic personality traits had higher prenatal distress levels and lower adaptation to pregnancy. It can be suggested that all health professionals serving pregnant women should consider the basic personality traits of women in their attempts to reduce prenatal stress and increase compliance with pregnancy.