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Exploring Perinatal Anxiety Detection, and Perinatal Women's Perceived Social Support From Medical Providers: A
Rose K Patterson1, Kayleigh R Smith1
1School of Social Welfare, University at Albany, Albany, New York, USA.
Objective:
Anxiety disorders during the perinatal period, or perinatal anxiety (PNA), occur at rates comparable to perinatal depression and often go undetected. Obstetric providers are perfectly positioned to identify PNA; yet, most literature focuses on informal supports as primary protective factors the prevention and detection of PNA. This study aims to contribute to this gap by exploring the relationship between perceived support from medical providers and the detection of PNA.
Materials And Methods:
The current study asked postpartum women to reflect on their levels of anxiety, perceived social support from obstetric care providers, help seeking behavior, and factors influencing their decision to disclose symptoms of PNA to their obstetric care provider during their perinatal period. Participants were recruited via an electronic flyer posted in social media groups for mothers. They completed an online survey consisting of a demographic questionnaire, Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS), Modified Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Subscale 1, Subscale 2.
Results:
Totally 98 postpartum women participated in this study. A Spearman correlation demonstrated a significant positive relationship between levels of perceived social support from obstetric providers and perinatal women ranking their obstetric provider as a barrier, neutral or motivating factor in help seeking behavior for PNA. A chi-square test of independence indicated a significant relationship between rankings of a provider as a barrier, neutral or motivator in help seeking behavior and the disclosure of PNA directly to obstetric care providers. It was found that levels of perceived social support reported on the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) significantly predicted ranking obstetric providers as a barrier, neutral or motivating factor in the decision to disclose symptoms of PNA to their obstetric care provider.
Conclusion:
The results of this study indicate a missed opportunity in more effective detection of PNA. Specifically, the role of obstetric providers in detection of PNA and potential to serve as a protective factor or motivator in the disclosure of PNA is mentioned.