Psychological Distress Among Ethiopian Pregnant Women During COVID-19: Negative Correlation with Self-Efficacy

• Published in: Psychology research and behavior management Vol. 14; pp. 1001 - 1010
• Main Author: Dule, Aman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Analysis; Anxiety; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; covid-19 fear; depression; Depression, Mental; Disease transmission; Epidemics; Ethiopia; Fetuses; Likert scale; Medical records; Mental depression; Mental health; mental well-beings; Original Research; Pandemics; Population; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Prenatal care; Questionnaires; Self-efficacy; Sociodemographics; Stress; Stress (Psychology); Womens health; Ethiopia; anxiety; depression; COVID-19 fear; mental well-beings; Ethiopia
• ISSN: 1179-1578; 1179-1578
• DOI: 10.2147/PRBM.S317961

Since the onset of coronavirus disease 2019, the mental health of individuals has been negatively affected, especially among vulnerable groups. The aim of this study was to explore the association of psychological distress with self-efficacy and other correlates among Ethiopian pregnant women. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 384 pregnant women from August 1 to 15, 2020. Pandemic-related psychological distress was measured by the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R). Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), generalized self-efficacy scale (GSES), and fear of COVID-19 scale (FCoV-19S) were employed to examine independent variables. A consecutive sampling technique was employed and the data were analyzed by SPSS version 23.0. Categorical variables were presented in terms of frequencies and percentages; and mean with SD was employed to express continuous variables. Multiple regressions were performed; and for statistical significance, p < 0.05 and 95% CI were considered. The participants had 31.3 (SD±7.7) mean age and those participants between the ages of 25-34 were dominant. The mean score of IES-R scale was 45.1 (±17.4) indicating severe psychological distress. The IES-R mean score for primiparous women was significantly higher than the mean score of multiparous women. Psychological distress has a strong positive correlation with symptoms of anxiety, depression and fear of COVID-19. In contrast, a negative relationship was found between psychological distress and participants' self-efficacy. The results indicate that the current pandemic has imposed severe psychological distress among pregnant women. The presence of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and pandemic-related fears were identified as positive predictors. In contrast, better self-efficacy of the pregnant women was linked to lower psychological distress. For health-care professionals, broadening the focus and collaboration among service-delivering units are important in halting undesirable outcomes of the pandemic.