Intolerance of Uncertainty and Emotion Regulation in Pregnant Women

Abstract

Anxiety during pregnancy is common, with up to 25% of women reporting anxiety symptoms. This has implications for the mother, feotus and for birth outcomes. When anxiety is specifically related to the pregnancy, these risks increase. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) and Emotion Regulation (ER) in pregnancy-related anxiety. A convenience sample of 40 pregnant women were randomised into an experimental induction of pregnancy specific versus general uncertainty. Participants completed a Vertical Arrow Technique (VAT) procedure to induce uncertainty. General Anxiety and Distress increased significantly in both groups, but Pregnancy-related anxiety was significantly higher in the pregnancy-specific group only. Neither trait IU nor trait ER moderated this relationship, suggesting that uncertainty related to pregnancy uniquely predicted pregnancy-related anxiety. Furthermore, pregnancy-specific uncertainty may lead to less adaptive ER strategies being used. Although further research is required to examine what is driving the relationship between uncertainty and pregnancy-related anxiety, this research has implications for antenatal services, as well as perinatal mental health assessments and interventions.