A Correlational Study Between Attachment Behaviors and Spiritual Health with Stress in Pregnant Women Referred to Healthcare Centers in Qazvin, Iran, in 2015

Background: Prenatal stress causes negative health outcomes for the mother and fetus. Hence, investigating coping strategies is essential to reduce such negative effects. Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the correlation between attachment behaviors and spiritual health with stress during pregnancy. Methods: In this crosssectional study, 200 pregnant women referred to the health centers affiliated to Qazvin University of Medical Sciences in 2015 are studied. Participants were selected using the multistage sampling technique. Data were collected using Paloutzian Ellison s Spiritual WellBeing Scale, Cranley s MaternalFetal Attachment Scale, the Pregnancy Stress Scale, and a researchermade questionnaire consisting of demographic and midwifery information. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20 using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and the multivariate linear regression analysis. Results: The mean scores for spirituality, attachment behaviors, and prenatal stress were 104.15 ± 10.59, 95.91 ± 8.9, and 88.92 ± 36.93, respectively. A positive weak correlation was spotted between attachment and stress (P = 0.02, r = 0.15), and spiritual health was found to have a negative, weak but significant association with the financial status (P 0.001, r = 0. 22) and personalfamily (P = 0. 03, r = 0.14) subscales of stress. No significant correlation was observed between spiritual health and the total score of stress (P gt; 0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that maternalfetal attachment was correlated with prenatal stress while spiritual health was not correlated with prenatal stress; however, spiritual health could predict some subscales of stress.