The Relationship Between Female Stress Perception And State Anxiety Within 6 Months After Delivery

Starting from the practical problem of postpartum anxiety,this study adopted the research method of interview and questionnaire.The purpose of the first study was to explore the cognitive factors affecting postpartum women’s state anxiety through interview method.Study 2 on the basis of study 1,explored the relationship between two important factors(stress perception and perceived social support)which extracted from study 1 and postpartum women’s state anxiety.In the first study,data were collected by interview method.5 qualified interviewees were selected to participate in the research through sampling criteria,and interview data were collected under the informed consent of the interviewees.Through the analysis of the original material,48 initial codes were extracted,6 axial codes and 2 core codes were further extracted.On the basis of study 1,study 2 further explored the relationship between two important factors(stress perception and perceived social support)which extracted from study 1 and postpartum women’s state anxiety.Combining with previous research data,study 2 hypothesized that perceived social support in postpartum women mediated between stress perception and state anxiety.Using the Chinese version of the stress perception scale,perceived social support scale,and the status subscale of the state-trait anxiety scale as research tools,questionnaires were given to eligible women within 6 months after delivery,and 263 valid questionnaires were eventually recovered.The state anxiety of postpartum women within 6 months was analyzed,and the hypothesis of the mediation model was further verified,that is,postpartum women’s perceived social support mediated between stress perception and state anxiety.The main results were as follows: Stress perception and understanding social support were two core codes;The mean score of state anxiety in women within 6 months after delivery was 41.81,and the standard deviation was 10.32,which was higher than norm(38.2 ± 8.3 for women aged 25-30 years and 38.4 ± 7.8 for women aged 30-35 years);Stress perception negatively predicted perception social support;Perception social support negatively predicted state anxiety;Stress perception positively predicted state anxiety;The mediating model fitted the index well,indicating that perceived social support played a part in mediating between stress perception and state anxiety.After a comprehensive discussion of the results of study 1 and study 2,the following general conclusions were drawn:Stress perception and perceived social support were two important factors affecting postpartum anxiety.The influence of stress perception on state anxiety was partly realized by understanding the mediating effect of social support.Changing the negative cognition of objective pressure and improving the positive feeling of objective support are effective ways to alleviate postpartum women’s state anxiety.