Psychological Distress Among Ethiopian Pregnant Women During COVID-19: Negative Correlation with Self-Efficacy

BACKGROUND: Since the onset of coronavirus disease 2019, the mental health of individuals has been negatively affected, especially among vulnerable groups. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the association of psychological distress with self-efficacy and other correlates among Ethiopian pregnant women. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 384 pregnant women from August 1 to 15, 2020. Pandemic-related psychological distress was measured by the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R). Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), generalized self-efficacy scale (GSES), and fear of COVID-19 scale (FCoV-19S) were employed to examine independent variables. A consecutive sampling technique was employed and the data were analyzed by SPSS version 23.0. Categorical variables were presented in terms of frequencies and percentages; and mean with SD was employed to express continuous variables. Multiple regressions were performed; and for statistical significance, p < 0.05 and 95% CI were considered. RESULTS: The participants had 31.3 (SD±7.7) mean age and those participants between the ages of 25–34 were dominant. The mean score of IES-R scale was 45.1 (±17.4) indicating severe psychological distress. The IES-R mean score for primiparous women was significantly higher than the mean score of multiparous women. Psychological distress has a strong positive correlation with symptoms of anxiety, depression and fear of COVID-19. In contrast, a negative relationship was found between psychological distress and participants’ self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the current pandemic has imposed severe psychological distress among pregnant women. The presence of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and pandemic-related fears were identified as positive predictors. In contrast, better self-efficacy of the pregnant women was linked to lower psychological distress. For health-care professionals, broadening the focus and collaboration among service-delivering units are important in halting undesirable outcomes of the pandemic.