Article
“Experiencing pregnancy resource oriented” – the Zurich Resource Model (ZRM) as an approach toward stress reduction during the antenatal periods
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Published: | July 28, 2022 |
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Background: Stress and pregnancy related changes can lead to ambivalent feelings and may have a strong impact on the well-being and health of pregnant women and their unborn children. To promote a healthy pregnancy outcome, the research literature recommends strengthening of mental and physical resources. The “Zurich Resource Model” (ZRM) is a resource-activating self-management training. Recent studies have shown that it can positively influence the regulation of emotions and reduce stress. In this study the effects of a ZRM-Intervention regarding pregnancy is being evaluated for the first time.
Aim/Research question: The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of the ZRM during pregnancy based on the following Research question: Does a ZRM-Training have a positive impact on experiencing stress and subjective well-being during pregnancy? According to this Research question, five directed hypotheses were developed. The constructs “stress” and “subjective well-being” were operationalized using validated questionnaire measures. The measured outcome parameters were general and pregnancy-related stress-experience, anxiety-experience, emotional well-being, action-orientation ability and subjective vitality.
Methods: A quasi-experimental uncontrolled intervention study was conducted, based on a pre-post-follow-up design containing three measurements. In January 2021 N=32 pregnant women received a 6-hour online ZRM intervention via Zoom. Data collection was performed one week before (T1), one week after (T2), and 4 weeks (T3) after the intervention. For hypothesis testing 1-factorial analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were performed using IBM SPSS 27.
Results: 1-factorial ANOVAs showed that the ZRM-Intervention could reduce experiencing stress in general (F(1.64, 45.83)=9.356, p<0.001, ηp2=0.250) and pregnancy-related stress (F(2.56)=15.053, p<0.001, ηp2=0.350) as well as experiencing anxiety (F(2.56)=3.44, p=0.039, ηp2=0.109). The ability of action-orientation (F(1.59, 44.42)=4.209, p=0.029, ηp2=0.131) and emotional well-being (F(2.56)=4.405, p=0.017, ηp2=0.136) was increased. An increase in subjective vitality was shown using descriptive statistics (F(2.56)=1.662, p=0.199, ηp2=0.056). The Covid-19-Pandemic was a particularly high stress factor for the participants.
Relevancy: The results may be attributed to an improved regulation of emotions. Accordingly, the ZRM-Intervention proved to be an effective resource-activating method for optimizing stress management and increasing well-being during pregnancy. It can be used in addition to the usual childbirth preparation.
Conclusion: In this study, the use of a ZRM-Training in the context of antenatal care was tested and positive effects were shown. Further research is needed, especially to ensure the transferability of the results including a control group.
Ethics and conflicts of interest: A vote on ethics was obtained. The research was financed by own resources. There are no conflicts of interest.