The validation of the brief COPE in a belgian perinatal population

INTRODUCTION

The Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (Brief-COPE) measures individuals' coping strategies. There is limited evidence on the psychometric properties of this measure in a perinatal population. The aim of this study is to explore the psychometric properties of the Brief COPE in pregnant and postpartum women.

METHODS

The Dutch/Flemish version of the Brief-COPE was administrated in a sample of 754 antenatal (n = 432) and postpartum (n = 322) women living in Belgium. Exploratory factor analyses assessed the factor structure of the Brief-COPE and its convergent validity in an antenatal and postpartum sample. Cronbach's alpha was calculated for internal consistency reliability of the Brief-COPE items.

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analysis showed a five-factor antenatal model, presented by the subscales: (1) Active coping (α = 0.86), (2) Self-blame and Disengagement (α = 0.70), (3) Alcohol use (α = 0.96), (4) Humour (α = 0.79), and (5) Spirituality (α = 0.81). For the postpartum sample, a three-factor model emerged, presented by the subscales: (1) Active coping (α = 0.85), (2) Self-blame (α = 0.85) and (3) Spirituality (α = 0.74).

CONCLUSIONS

We observed differences and similarities in coping strategies between antenatal and postpartum women - information to be of merit for clinical practice and research. The Brief-COPE is a promising tool for the use of identifying women's coping strategies during pregnancy and the postpartum period, specifically for women in a similar cultural context as the women in this study, mainly in terms of antenatal alcohol use.

Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to influence psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women.

Methods

We conducted a non-concurrent cross-sectional study among 1145 women living in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, 541 pregnant and 604 postpartum women. We measured psychological health with the Whooley questions, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and compared the scores of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

No differences were observed in the Whooley, GAD-2 or EPDS scores among pregnant women. The postpartum total GAD-2 scores before vs during the pandemic showed significant differences. Controlling for confounders, we observed a small main positive effect of having an infant during time of COVID-19 (F(1.13) = 5.06, p.025, d.27). The effect was significantly larger for women with (a history of) perinatal psychological problems (F(1.12) = 51.44, p < .001, d.82). Emotional support was significantly related to GAD-2 scores of postpartum women during the pandemic (F(1.90) = 35.54, p < .001). Postpartum women reported significant higher effects of the pandemic on their behavior compared to pregnant women (p.034).

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have a positive effect on postpartum women during the first year postpartum, in particular for women with (a history of) perinatal psychological problems and for those women who experienced emotional support. The findings suggest that less external stimuli caused by lockdown restrictions might have a positive effect on postpartum women’s emotional wellbeing. The sample consisted of white, educated women in a relationship and information regarding the extent of exposure to adverse COVID-19 consequences was lacking. We relied on self-selection and self-report. The postpartum pandemic sample was small.