Study On The Effect Of Intervention Program Based On Mindfulness Attention Monitoring And Acceptance And Its Core Facet On Emotional Management During Pregnancy

ObjectivesAttention monitoring and acceptance underlie the efects of mindfulness intervention.The purpose of the study was to understand the effects of mindfulness intervention focusing on attention monitoring and acceptance on relieving depression and anxiety during pregnancy.Since mindfulness intervention can be dismantled into training in specific training,which could simplify the intervention program while still to be effective,therefore,we explore the key factors of mindfulness in emotional management during pregnancy.The study was designed to provide theoretical and practical basis for the formulation of psychological care and development of mindfulness intervention program for pregnant women with depression and anxiety symptoms.MethodsThe study contained two parts:The first part:The mindfulness emotional management intervention during pregnancy was developed with the method of literature review and expert discussion.A total of 123 women with scores on the Generalised Anxiety Scale and Patient Health Questiounaire suggesting mild or moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety were recruited from the outpatient department.The participants were randomised to receive the mindfulness intervention or routine prenatal care.The Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale,the Patient Health Questionnaire,and the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire were used to evaluate the levels of anxiety,depression,and mindfulness,respectively,before and after the intervention.The second part:We conducted questionnaire survey to investigate the relation among mindfulness attention monitoring,acceptance,anxiety,depression and emotional regulation efficacy.Besides,we dismantled mindfulness meditation training into two components(e.g.,attention monitoring training and acceptance training).Pregnant women with anxiety or depression(N=131 were randomized to either a 4-week online intervention:(1)mindfulness training in attention monitoring,(2)mindfulness training in monitoring plus acceptance and(3)control group.We use Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale,Patient Health Questionnaire,and Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire(FFMQ),Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale(RESE)to evaluate anxiety,depression,mindfulness and self-efficacy of emotional regulation pre-and post-intervention.ResultsThe first part results:Of the 123 women enrolled in this study,10 in the intervention group and 11 in the control group did not complete the intervention.The retention rate and feedback suggested that the mindfulness intervention was feasible and acceptable among pregnant women.Participants in the intervention group showed greater declines in depressive and anxious symptoms compared to those in the control group(p<0.05),and a significant improvement in mindfulness skills(e.g.,attention monitoring and acceptance).The second part results:Acceptance was significantly negatively correlated with PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores,and positively eorrelated with DES and ANG scores,attention was positive correlated with ANG but not correlated with PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores.Training in acceptance significantly reduced anxiety,depression and improved perceived self-efficacy in managing depression/distress compared with training in attention monitoring and control group(p<0.05).Participants in acceptance training group showed downward trend in anxiety and upward trend in perceived self-efficacy in managing anger/irritation(p<0.05).There were no significant changes in anxiety,depression and regulatory emotional self-efficacy in control group(p>0.05).ConclusionEmotional management intervention during mindfulness pregnancy was found to effectively relieve anxiety and depression symptoms during pregnancy,as well as to improve the level of mindfulness(i.e,attention monitoring and acceptance,it is worthwhile to explore its application and effect through clinical practice.Compared with training in attention monitoring,training in acceptance had better effect on relieving symptoms of depression and anxiety,as well as on improving negative emotional regulation self-efficacy.Acceptance could be emphasized in psychological intervention during pregnancy.