Perceived Social Support and Depression, Anxiety and Stress in Pregnant Women Diagnosed With Foetal Anomaly.
Meltem Mecdi Kaydırak, Elif Balkan, Nilgul Bacak and 1 others
PMID 39494755WHAT IT FOUND
Pregnant women diagnosed with foetal anomaly reported good perceived social support and mostly normal depression, anxiety and stress levels.
Weak negative correlations linked higher family and friend support to lower stress, but no significant link was found for depression.
Key findings
01Participants reported high levels of perceived social support (mean MSPSS score 65.4) and predominantly normal scores for depression, anxiety and stress.
02Perceived social support showed only weak negative correlations with depression, anxiety and stress, with no statistically significant difference in support levels across different depression severity groups.
03A majority of the sample (55.0%) had been advised to terminate the pregnancy but chose to continue.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study excluded women who chose to terminate their pregnancies, meaning the results do not reflect the psychological state of this significant subgroup. The cross-sectional design cannot determine whether social support influences mental health or vice versa. The correlations found were weak, suggesting that perceived social support explains only a small portion of the variance in depression, anxiety and stress scores. Participants had known their diagnosis for at least one week, which may have allowed for some initial acceptance and potentially lower reported anxiety compared to the immediate post-diagnosis period.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that high perceived social support guarantees low psychological distress in women with foetal anomalies. The correlations found were weak, and depression scores did not differ significantly based on support levels, so clinicians must assess mental health directly rather than inferring stability from the presence of family or friends.