Relationship between religious practice, alcohol use, and psychiatric disorders among pregnant women

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mental health of pregnant and postpartum women is a topic widely discussed in scientific literature. During this period, women are going through major changes in physical, hormonal, psychological and social aspects, and thus become more susceptible to psychic problems. The relationship between health and religiousness is also evident in the literature, however there are no studies examining this relationship among pregnant women. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between religious practice, prevalence of psychiatric disorders, and alcohol use in pregnant women users of The Brazilian National Health System in Juiz de Fora, Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study, involving 260 pregnant women of Juiz de Fora. Data collection was performed in care centers for pregnant women of the city, using a sociodemographic questionnaire (which included religious practice and religious filiation), the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). RESULTS: Most pregnant women practiced a religion (60.8%). Religious women show a lower frequency (p < 0.05) of diagnoses of Major Depressive Episode with Melancholic features, Hypomania episode, current Panic disorder with Agoraphobia, current Social Anxiety disorder, and Post-traumatic stress disorder. In the diagnosis of abuse of one or more psychoactive substances, there was a tendency to lower prevalence in the groups of religious women (p = 0,057). DISCUSSION: It was observed in this study, that the religious women tend to have lower rates of mood disorders and anxiety disorders than pregnant women that do not practice their religion.