System Maintenance Notice

Please note that maintenance work is scheduled between 4 AM and 5 AM - CET. During this time, you may experience reduced performance. Thanks for your patience.

Publications

Journal Article Ppublish

PubMed: 41403057 DOI: 10.1177/17455057251407853

Changes in maternal coping strategies from pregnancy to postpartum among Japanese women: A prospective longitudinal study.

Womens Health (Lond) 21:17455057251407853

Authors: Ritsuko Shirabe, Tsuyoshi Okuhara, Hiroko Okada, Eiko Goto, Takahiro Kiuchi

Affiliations

  • University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) Center, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Japan.
  • Department of Health Communication, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Coping strategies like self-distraction and self-blame predict later maternal mental health problems; however, little is known about changes in coping strategies that occur within pregnant individuals.

OBJECTIVES

This study analyzed intrapersonal changes in individual coping strategies between the prenatal and postnatal periods.

DESIGN

A prospective longitudinal pilot studyMethods:We recruited 59 women from a perinatal medical center in Tokyo. Participants answered the Brief COPE at late pregnancy and 4 weeks postnatally. We performed paired-samples t-tests to identify the differences in coping strategies between two timepoints.

RESULTS

Fifty-four women completed questionnaires at both timepoints. The scores for self-distraction, denial, and self-blame significantly decreased after childbirth.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that women may change their individual coping strategies throughout their perinatal experiences. This finding could help further research explore women who cannot change high-risk coping strategies, as well as consider ways to empower women in selecting coping strategies during the perinatal period.

MeSH

Pregnancy, Longitudinal Studies, Postpartum Period, Mental Health