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
cessation during this period. Secondly, to offset further attrition
arising from the increased level of commitment involved in
repeatedly completing a new total of four Couvade symptom
questionnaires over the study time periods. This begs a further
question: why was the control group only compared at two time
periods and not three as the experimental group had been? The
reason for this was, unlike those in the experimental group with
pregnant partners, pregnancy has very specific and defined time
stages which lend themselves to investigation in contrast to the
control group which had no pregnant partners and which therefore
did not require an additional time comparison. Nevertheless, the
timing of the administration of the questionnaires did take account
of “practice effects” by allowing a sufficient time interval between
the measures for both study groups. One final problem related to
data collection was the measure of the symptom of ‘anxiety’ which
did not distinguish between ‘state and trait anxiety’. So there was
the possibility that some men could have been constitutionally
anxious as opposed to exhibiting this as a symptom of the Couvade
syndrome.
The analysis of the data omitted to include correlations between
physical and psychological symptoms in the partners of pregnant
women. Had it done so the psychosomatic nature of the syndrome
with the interrelationship between physical and psychological
symptoms would have been confirmed. It would also have been
useful to compare similarities and differences between men’s
symptoms with those of their pregnant partners. If men’s symptoms
were different then this would substantiate that the fact that men
do not consciously imitate or mimic the symptoms of their pregnant
partners thus upholding the involuntary nature of the syndrome.
Clinical Implications
The Couvade syndrome presents diagnostic challenges for those
clinicians to whom men are referred. The symptoms of the
syndrome can give rise to similar ones indicative of more serious
illness such as clinical depression which includes insomnia, feelings
of depression, weight loss, lack of motivation and cognitive deficits
(DSM: Version IV: American Psychiatric Association. 2000). This
study has shown that the male partners of pregnant women do
experience significantly greater severity and distress of physical and
psychological symptoms compared to men whose partners are not
pregnant. This research finding needs to be addressed at a clinical
level where all too often men with the syndrome and its symptoms
are dismissed and ridiculed both publically and even professionally.
One reason for this is that the syndrome crosses gender boundaries
in its relationship with pregnancy, the domain of the woman.
Traditional hegemonic expectancies of masculine and feminine roles
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