Acta Univ. Palacki. Olomuc., Gymn. 2008 38(3): 37-44

The state of mind of less physically active and regularly physically active women in the second trimester of their pregnancies

Anja Podlesnik Fetih¹, Mateja Videmšek², Vislava Globevnik Velikonja³, Eda Bokal Vrtačnik³, Damir Karpljuk²

¹ Independent researcher, Ljubljana

² Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana

³ University Medical Centre, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana

The moment a woman fi nds out that she is pregnant, her life changes in many aspects as she starts to adjust to the baby growing in her body. Her wish is to feel well, to safely reach the due date and give birth to a healthy child. We conducted a survey among 163 pregnant women at the end of the second trimester of their pregnancies and this article presents the relationship between their sport activity and their state of mind during pregnancy. Two groups of pregnant women, namely those who were regularly physically active (RPA) and those with a low level of being physically active (LPA) were compared and the relationship between their level of sport activity and their state of mind was established. The first part of the inventory focused on sport activity, namely - the frequency, forms and types of their sport activities. The RPA group consisted of 69 pregnant women who regularly engage in organised sport activities at sport centres or are physically active 3 to 4 times a week in an unorganised way. Activities which lasted for 30 minutes or more were considered. The LPA group consisted of 94 pregnant women who were physically active only occasionally or were physically inactive. The second part of the inventory investigating pregnant women's state of mind included 45 items which probed into their state of mind; for each item the study subjects defined their psychological state of mind on a five degree scale (never, rarely, sometimes, often, nearly always). Of all items, 20 had a prevalence of a positive state of mind and 25 a prevalence of a negative state of mind. In both groups, the state of mind of the women was analysed and relationships were established between regular sport activity and a low level of sport activity and the state of mind of the women in the second trimester, which is the time when pregnant women are most frequently and most easily physically active. By using a factor analysis we proved that, in the RPA, the first factor to be eliminated is the one associated with positive emotions, explaining 23.51 percent of the variance of the total 34.91 percent of the explained variance. Hence, the RPA pregnant women defined their state of mind as being mostly positive, with the following emotions: relaxed, satisfied, agreeable, not pessimistic, attractive, proud and happy. In the LPA group, the first eliminated factor was the one associated with negative emotions, explaining 19.45 percent of the variance of the total 34.68 percent of the explained variance. This group of pregnant women defined their state of mind mostly as negative, with the following recurring emotions: melancholic, tense, irritable, depressed and nervous. The findings show that regular sport activity benefits the psychological state of mind and the mental health of pregnant women.

Keywords: Emotions, organised, unorganised physical activity, inventory investigating the state of mind

Prepublished online: April 8, 2009; Published: June 1, 2008  Show citation