The effectiveness of emotional intelligence training on anxiety in primigravid women

Background: Anxiety is defined as a vague feeling of fear and with unknown origin and having components such as physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral. The mental state of women during pregnancy and the stress of this period can be directly or indirectly affected on fetal and maternal health in the same period and or following years after the birth. The most appropriate treatment due to limitations of pregnancy is psychological treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of emotional Intelligence training on anxiety in primigravid women. Materials and methods: This study was an Interventional study in parallel groups. Primigravid women consisted of 80 pregnant women in the two groups, intervention group (n = 40) and control group (n = 40) were randomly assigned. The intervention group trained at the workshop method in six weekly sessions and each session were about 120 minutes. Schering emotional intelligence questionnaire and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety with pre and post-test to measure emotional Intelligence and anxiety were completed by both groups. The results were analyzed using SPSS V.19. Results: The results of analysis of covariance showed that the adjusted mean any of the scores of emotional intelligence, general anxiety, trait anxiety and state anxiety in terms of group membership (intervention, control) there is a significant difference in post-test (P<0.001). Conclusions: According to the results of this study, emotional Intelligence training can be used as reduce anxiety during pregnancy.