Assessment of anxiety and psychological stress among expectant parents during pregnancy: a scoping review.
Inês Santos Tinta, Maria Helena de Carvalho Valente Presado, Sandra Margarida Gaiato Risso
PMID 41370590WHAT IT FOUND
Most tools for assessing anxiety and stress in pregnancy were used with pregnant women, not expectant fathers.
Nurses can consider these tools in maternity care, but evidence for screening fathers is limited.
Key findings
01The review included 33 studies and identified 16 instruments for assessing anxiety or stress in expectant parents during pregnancy.
0231 included studies enrolled pregnant women; only 2 included expectant fathers.
03Use was mainly in the third trimester, and the most frequently used tools included PRAQ-R-10, PRAQ-R, STAI, and PSS.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The exclusion of some databases may have missed relevant studies. Most instruments were applied in different cultural contexts, so they may not be fully applicable to other populations. Few studies assessing anxiety and stress in men have been validated for the Portuguese population. The protocol was changed after registration to add exclusion criteria.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that these instruments are proven to reduce anxiety, stress, or adverse outcomes. The review only mapped assessment tools, and the evidence base for expectant fathers was limited.