Date of Award

Summer 8-31-2025

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Sarah Hayes-Skelton

Second Advisor

Elizabeth Eustis

Third Advisor

Alice Carter

Abstract

Prenatal anxiety is common and has been linked to myriad adverse psychological and physical health outcomes for both the pregnant individual and the child. While research on factors contributing to the etiology and maintenance of prenatal anxiety is limited, intolerance of uncertainty has been identified as a key factor related to anxiety during pregnancy. The current study aimed to substantiate the role of intolerance of uncertainty in prenatal anxiety and explore meta-cognitive and psychosocial constructs as potential moderators of the relation between intolerance of uncertainty and prenatal anxiety. Additionally, due to inconsistencies in the operationalization of prenatal anxiety in the current literature, these factors were examined in relation to both generalized anxiety symptoms and pregnancy-specific anxiety symptoms. A sample of 104 individuals (M age= 31.1, SD = 5.8; M gestational age= 21.8 weeks, SD = 9.8; 73% white) participated and completed online, self-report questionnaires assessing generalized and pregnancy-related anxiety symptoms, intolerance of uncertainty, mindfulness, experiential avoidance, and social support. Regression analyses revealed significant, positive relations between intolerance of uncertainty and both forms of prenatal anxiety. Similarly, mindfulness and experiential avoidance were significantly predictive of both forms of prenatal anxiety symptoms, while social support only significantly predicted generalized anxiety symptoms. None of the constructs tested were found to be significant moderators of the relation between intolerance of uncertainty and prenatal anxiety symptoms. It is important to note that current conclusions are limited due to collinearity between experiential avoidance and intolerance of uncertainty and the use of cross-sectional data. These findings underscore the need for further investigation into the clinical utility of meta-cognitive factors in the context of prenatal anxiety and provide further evidence that intolerance of uncertainty is a critical target for future prenatal anxiety intervention studies.

Comments

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