Summary:
The present study investigates the psychological condition of pregnant women as
well as how such condition, demographics and socioeconomic status influence
their decision concerning prenatal diagnosis. Additionally, the present study
researches “stress” as an element of the future mothers’ personality and also
as an element which influences the decisions and is influenced by such
decisions of present prenatal diagnosis and preexisting prenatal findings.
Two hundred and ninety-three pregnant women who came in the Prenatal Diagnosis
Laboratory of the Agia Sofia Children’s Hospital in Athens for a prenatal
chromosomal test, after undertaking amniocentesis, agreed to be included in the
study, had an interview and subsequently filled the following questionnaires:
Spielberger’s (1970) State-trait anxiety inventory and Goldberg’s (1972)
General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The result analysis has been done with
SPSS and the use of different statistical tests: Pearson-r, Chi-square, t-test,
ANOVA.
According to the answers given to these Questionnaires, a few of the findings
were that pregnant women were more stressed (state anxiety) when their
financial status was poor or average and less, or not all, stressed when their
financial status was good. Studying “stress” as an element of their personality
(trait anxiety) resulted in women who were in a good or average financial
status to be less stressed whereas when their financial status was poor to be
more stressed.
