SELF-CONCEPT OF HOSPITALIZED GRAVIDAS IN THE LAST TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY (ANXIETY, SELF-ESTEEM, RISK, BODY IMAGE).
Contributors: University of Texas at Austin.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 229
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Although the nursing management and medical care of the high-risk gravida is well understood by those providing such care the psychological experience of women faced with a complication of pregnancy and antepartal hospitalization has not been investigated. Hospitalization, problematic in some degree for any patient, is thought to be highly problematic for the risk gravida relative to changes in self-esteem, body-cathexis, evaluation of pregnancy, and anxiety.

A fixed effect 2 x 2 factorial equal n design was used with 160 third trimester gravidas; Factor I was situation, hospitalized or non-hospitalized; Factor II was parity, primigravida or multigravida. Continuous data were obtained on four dependent variables by means of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, Body-cathexis Scale, semantic differential Myself as Pregnant, and the A-State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Semi-structured interview data were collected on the 80 hospitalized subjects and relevant demographic data were collected on all subjects. Three directional hypotheses dealing with the effect of parity, situation and their interaction were tested by multivariate analysis of variance and covariance. Significance was judged at the 0.5 alpha level.

Results indicated a significant multivariate effect attributable to situation, and although significant correlations existed among all the dependent variables anxiety was the only variable which was significant to situation. No significant multivariate effect for parity or the interaction between situation and parity was demonstrated. Education had some slight value as a covariate in the multivariate model; maternal age and weeks gestation did not. Significant negative correlations were found between number of hours hospitalized and self-esteem, and between number of hours hospitalized and evaluation of pregnancy. No significant difference was found between expected or unexpected hospital admission and anxiety, or between local or non-local residence and anxiety. Four categories of perceived benefits and six categories of perceived problems associated with hospitalization were identified from the interview data.

A theoretical framework based on Self-theory and Role Transition Theory is used to explain the results and to suggest the implications of the findings for nursing practice and nursing research.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-10, Section: B, page: 3389.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, 1985.

School code: 0227.