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
same time periods. In doing so this study addresses important
research questions previously overlooked such as is there variability
in the severity and distress of symptoms between the 1 st and 3 rd
trimesters of pregnancy and the postpartum period? Are there
differences in symptom severity and distress between men with
pregnant partners and those without over comparative time
periods? These questions relate to two of the objectives for this
phase of the study namely to assess variability in symptom severity
and distress for both study groups over time and to assess the
severity and distress of symptoms experienced by men with
pregnant partners compared to those with non-expectant partners.
One interesting and novel finding was the impact of time on
symptom severity and distress within and between the two study
groups. Symptom severity and distress for the majority of physical
and psychological symptoms significantly varied with time for those
in the experimental group but hardly showed any statistically
significant differences for those in the control group. The results
support the view that Couvade symptoms are time-specific over the
1 st and 3 rd trimesters of pregnancy as the literature suggests
(Trethown and Conlon, 1965; Schodt, 1989; Magalini and Magalini,
1997). The studies of Lipkin and Lamb (1982) and Quill et al,
(1984) lend further support to this since both confirmed that men
with the syndrome consulted health professionals for symptoms
during the 1 st and 3 rd trimesters of gestation. This finding might
suggest that the presence of symptoms in men with the syndrome
remain constant during these periods but that their severity and
distress progressively increase. Interestingly, evidence from the
qualitative phase of the study partially supports this. In the
postpartum period all symptoms decreased in severity and distress
for those in the experimental group except for three psychological
ones “sleeping less than usual”, “early morning waking” and “feeling
stressed”. This is not a surprising finding given the demands of the
newborn baby including his/her nocturnal crying and men’s
transition and adaptation to parenthood, especially those who were
first-time parents numbering 111 in the experimental group.
However, the persistence of these symptoms into the postpartum
period does not concur with previous findings.
Relationship between Socio-demographic Factors, Severity and
Distress of Symptoms in Men with Pregnant Partners
While many studies have investigated the broad relationship
between the Couvade syndrome and socio-demographic factors, few
have examined the relationships between severity and distress of its
specific symptoms with these. This section of the study discusses
the results which have redressed this deficit. No significant
relationships were found at all between the severity and distress of
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