Premium
Psychosocial factors in pregnancy and birthweight: Path analysis
Author(s) -
Dolatian Mahrokh,
Mahmoodi Zohreh,
AlaviMajd Hamid,
Moafi Farnoosh,
Ghorbani Maryam,
Mirabzadeh Arash
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 1341-8076
DOI - 10.1111/jog.12991
Subject(s) - medicine , psychosocial , socioeconomic status , perceived stress scale , anxiety , lisrel , path analysis (statistics) , pregnancy , social support , scale (ratio) , breastfeeding , demography , environmental health , psychiatry , structural equation modeling , stress (linguistics) , pediatrics , population , psychology , linguistics , philosophy , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , sociology , biology , psychotherapist , genetics
Abstract Aim Birthweight is known to be affected by several factors. In the present study a relationship model of psychological and economic determinants of birthweight was designed and tested. Methods This prospective study involved 400 pregnant women in four districts of Tehran, Iran. The subjects were selected through a multistage sampling method. Seven questionnaires (socioeconomic status; Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale; Perceived Stress Scale; 21‐item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale [DASS‐21]; perceived social support; pregnancy‐related anxiety scale; and domestic violence questionnaire) were used to assess participant psychosocial and economic conditions. In order to collect post‐partum information about the mother and the infant, the women were followed up until delivery. Data were analyzed using SPSS‐16 and Lisrel‐8.8. Results Based on the obtained path diagram, the greatest adverse effects on birthweight were exerted directly by DASS‐21 score (B = −0.14) and indirectly by stressful life events (B = −0.037). Among variables that affected birthweight in both paths, socioeconomic status and perceived stress had the strongest overall effects on birthweight (B = 0.203 and −0.1024, respectively). Conclusion According to the path analysis model, psychosocial and economic factors can directly/indirectly affect birthweight.