The Effect of Group Counseling Based on Cognitive-Behavioral Approach on Pregnancy-Specific Stress and Anxiety

Background: Females encounter various stresses during life. Different courses of female’s life, namely menstruation, pregnancy, and childbirth, cause particular physical and mental changes that make them more vulnerable. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of group counseling based on cognitive-behavioral approach on pregnancy-specific stress and anxiety Methods: This randomized trial recruited 62 qualified pregnant females during year 2016. The participants were selected through convenience sampling and divided to 2 groups, the intervention and the control group, based on randomized blocks of 4. The control group received routine prenatal care and an instructional package for dealing with stresses during pregnancy. The intervention group received counseling for 6 sessions of 90 minutes besides routine prenatal care. Both groups were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the study using pregnancy-specific stress and anxiety questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS16 software. Results: Based on the results of this study, the 2 groups did not significantly differ in terms of age, educational level, occupation, ethnicity, and housing. The score of stress during pregnancy was not significantly different at baseline either. However, mean score of stress after the intervention was significantly lower in the intervention group than the control group (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Cognitive-behavioral counseling can be used as an optional method for reducing the pregnancy-specific stress and anxiety, and improving the pregnant female’s mental health.