Relationship with the Father of the Baby and Pregnancy-Related Anxiety among Pregnant Black Women.
Suzanne Hyer, Wenfang Hu, Mengtong Hu and 3 others
PMID 35352688WHAT IT FOUND
Conflict with the baby's father was linked to more avoidance coping and higher pregnancy-related anxiety in 408 pregnant Black women.
Avoidance coping was also linked to anxiety. Father support was not linked to anxiety after accounting for age, marital status, education, employment, and income.
Key findings
01In 408 pregnant Black women, conflict with the father of the baby was positively associated with avoidance coping and pregnancy-related anxiety, and avoidance coping partially mediated that association.
02Support from the father of the baby was negatively associated with avoidance coping and pregnancy-related anxiety, but after controlling for age, marital status, education, employment, and income it had no significant total or indirect effect on pregnancy-related anxiety.
03Avoidance coping was positively associated with pregnancy-related anxiety.
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What it does not show
The study used cross-sectional survey data, so it cannot show that conflict with the father caused avoidance coping or that avoidance coping caused pregnancy-related anxiety. The sample was limited to English-speaking Black or African American pregnant women from prenatal clinics in Detroit and Columbus, so the findings may not apply to other groups. Birth outcomes such as preterm birth and low birthweight were not available, so the study did not link pregnancy-related anxiety to infant outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that support from the father reduces pregnancy-related anxiety or that conflict causes anxiety. This was a cross-sectional survey, so it showed associations only, and support was not significantly linked to anxiety after the model controlled for age, marital status, education, employment, and income.