Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
1979; Fawcett and York, 1986a; Holditch-Davis et al, 1994).
However, this explanation of symptom identification between
partners during gestation has been refuted by Drake et al, (1988).
The higher incidence of “back pain” in the experimental group
reflects its extensive reporting within the literature by Liebenberg,
(1967); Drake et al, (1988); Schodt, (1989); Conner and Denson,
(1990); Brady-Freitag, (1994); Chalmers and Meyer, (1996) and
Tsai and Chen, (1997). Its cause may be related to the physical
demands upon male partners as the gestational period progressed
such as lifting weighty items in support of a heavily pregnant
partner.
Interpretations for psychological symptoms of a higher incidence
such as “sleep disturbance” and “early morning waking” whose
association with the Couvade syndrome is widely reported may be
due to the men’s pregnancy-related anxieties or the nocturnal
restlessness of their pregnant partners as gestation progressed.
“Feeling low in mood” another prominent symptom of the syndrome
reported by Longobucco and Freston (1989); Conner and Denson,
(1990); Raskin et al, (1990); Goodman, (1992) and Tsai and Chen
(1997) may have occurred because of unplanned pregnancy and/or
feelings of hopelessness due to the man’s lack of control over this
life event (Barclay et al, 1996).
Expectant men’s “anxiety” although not widely reported in this
phase of the study may have arisen because of health and financial
worries relating to the pregnancy, the unborn child and the
impending responsibilities of future parenthood especially with firsttime
fathers. Alternatively it might lend support to Cutrona’s (1996)
theory of the interrelationship of anxiety between conjugal partners.
However, caution with these interpretations is advised given the
fact that “anxiety” might also have been constitutional for some
men since the investigation did not distinguish between ‘State’ or
‘Trait’ anxiety. The most probable explanation for symptoms of
emotional affect such as, “feeling annoyed” and “feeling irritable”
was as a response to the increased and multiple demands of the
pregnancy. The symptom of “being unable to cope with daily life”
has rarely been reported within the literature having no known
association with the syndrome but its presence may have arisen due
to the increased socio-emotional and financial demands of the
pregnancy (Barclay et al 1996). Those symptoms which showed a
similar incidence between the study groups including “mood
swings”, “feeling frustrated”, “feeling stressed”, “lack of
motivation”, “sleeping more than usual”, “feeling restless” and “loss
of memory” may have no association with the syndrome at all with
some having higher incidence in the general population anyway.
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