Associations among fear of childbirth, resilience and psychological distress in pregnant women: A response surface analysis and moderated mediation model

Abstract

IntroductionPrenatal psychological distress is prevalent during pregnancy. This study aimed to estimate the associations among fear of childbirth, resilience and psychological distress.MethodsA total of 1,060 Chinese pregnant women were enrolled from Be Resilient to Postpartum Depression (ChiCTR2100048465) and the following instruments were administered to them: Childbirth Attitudes Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Adverse Childhood Experience scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A dominance, a response surface analysis and a moderated mediation analysis were performed.ResultsIn terms of psychological distress, resilience and fear of childbirth could explain 41.6% (0.148/0.356) and 33.1% (0.118/0.356), respectively. Pregnant women with high resilience-low fear of childbirth had significantly lower levels of psychological distress than those with low resilience-high fear of childbirth. The indirect effects of fear of childbirth on psychological distress through resilience was significantly (B = 0.054, 95% CI 0.038 to 0.070). The interactions between fear of childbirth and adverse childhood experiences (β = 0.114, 95% CI −0.002 to 0.231, p = 0.054) and between resilience and adverse childhood experiences (β = −0.118, 95% CI −0.222 to −0.012, p < 0.05) were significant.ConclusionResilience, fear of childbirth and adverse childhood experiences may be three important factors to psychological distress in Chinese pregnant women.