Date Available

4-28-2016

Year of Publication

2016

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Nursing

Department/School/Program

Nursing

First Advisor

Dr. Kristin B. Ashford

Abstract

The median prevalence of smoking among women of childbearing age in the United States is 22.4%. Of women who identify themselves as smokers in the three months prior to conception, 55% quit during pregnancy; however, 40% of those who quit relapse and return to smoking within six months after delivery. Smoking has been identified as an important means of stress management among smokers in general, and though limited to the perinatal period, pregnancy-specific stress adds to a woman’s typical day-to-day stress burden. Little data exists as to the effect of SHS exposure on smoking status during pregnancy and the impact of SHS exposure on the maternal perception of stress is unknown. Due to limited evidence, a critical need exists to examine the relationships of perceived maternal stress, SHS exposure, and perinatal smoking status in order to better understand perinatal smoking behaviors.

The purposes of this dissertation were to: 1) evaluate the literature examining the relationship between the variables of maternal stress, SHS exposure, and perinatal smoking status; 2) determine the reliability and validity of the Everyday Stressors Index (ESI) use in pregnant women; and 3) to investigate the impacts of maternal perception of everyday stress, and SHS exposure on perinatal smoking status.

Evidence obtained from the critical review of the literature supported an association between psychosocial stress and smoking during pregnancy or postpartum. Little information regarding the role of SHS exposure on perinatal smoking status was discovered. Psychometric testing of the ESI demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability, and factor analysis yielded three factors capturing three important domains of everyday stress. SHS exposure emerged as the most significant predictor of smoking status. Persistent smokers/relapsers had the highest ESI scores, followed by quitters, and then nonsmokers. While ESI means decreased in all smoking status groups from the first to the third trimester, the magnitude of decrease was not predictive. A significant interaction effect of SHS exposure in the home and decrease in ESI score occurred in the quit group only with quitters 1.14 times more likely to experience a decrease in ESI score compared to smokers/relapsers.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2016.221

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