Relationship Between Miscarriage and Dysfunctional Cognitions About Trauma, Coping Mechanisms, and Posttraumatic Growth

Abstract

Many studies have described grief and psychiatric symptomatology as a typical feature following miscarriage. How women who had a miscarriage (MG) respond to trauma in terms of negative cognitions about their selves and the world, the coping strategies they employ to overcome the effects of the trauma, and what factors might be indicative of posttraumatic growth (PTG) in this population have not been extensively studied so far. We aimed to identify whether women who had a miscarriage (N = 74 vs. N = 82 control subjects) exhibited higher levels of psychological distress symptoms, dysfunctional cognitions, and maladaptive coping strategies, and whether women with lower PTG employed more maladaptive coping strategies, and reported higher levels of dysfunctional cognitions. Group comparisons according to the diagnostic groups based on self-report measures for depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder and according to the level of PTG, and stepwise linear regression analyses with PTG as the outcome were performed. Our study demonstrated that the MG does not necessarily differ from the control group on some measures of psychopathology, coping mechanisms, dysfunctional cognitions, or PTG. Yet, the MG who exhibited higher levels of PTG had specific predictors, and women with a psychiatric diagnosis differed from participants with no diagnoses on some measures of dysfunctional cognitions, coping mechanisms, and PTG. Further studies with a prospective design could further clarify the needs of the MG requiring psychotherapeutic interventions.