Relationship Between Avoiding the Experience, Cognitive Fusion and the Difficulty of Regulating Excitement With Fear of Giving Birth to Pregnant Women of Primigravid

Abstract

Background: One of the essential factors affecting the conditions of primigravid women is fear of childbirth that may be influenced by factors such as experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and difficulty in emotional regulation. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and emotional regulation difficulties with fear of childbirth among Iranian primigravid women. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 300 primigravid women. The data was collected from a government hospital in Rash, Alzahra hospital. The research tools included demographic information form, the questionnaire of experiential avoidance (AAQ-II), Difficulty in Emotional Regulation (DES), Cognitive Fusion (CFQ), and fear of childbirth (CAQ). SPSS v. 16 was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multivariate regression were performed. The significance level was considered 0.05 Results: The present study's findings showed a significant reverse relationship between income and fear of childbirth (R=-0.22, p<0.05). Experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and difficulty in emotional regulation generally had a positive and significant relationship with fear of childbirth and could also predict it. Conclusion: The score of fear of childbirth in primigravid women was high, and women with lower income had a higher score in fear of childbirth. Further problems can be prevented by supporting women who are more likely to be affected by fear of birth, holding psychology courses, and controlling emotions.