Evaluation of the Effect of Father's Personality Traits on Fear of Childbirth
Keywords:
Fathers' Fear of Childbirth, Personality Traits, Prenatal EducationAbstract
This study aims to examine how fathers' personality traits affect their levels of fear related to childbirth and to develop strategies to alleviate the anxiety and fear experienced by fathers during the childbirth process based on the findings. The universe of the study consists of fathers and prospective fathers living in Kocaeli province between 20.02.2023 and 20.05.2023 and who are in the prenatal and postnatal period of 1-6 months. 398 fathers were included in the study as a sample. In the study, the fathers' fear of childbirth scale and the five-factor personality trait scale were used together with the personal information form. In the study, the mean scores of the fathers' personality traits were examined and the findings show that fathers received high scores in the dimensions of extroversion, agreeableness, responsibility and openness, and lower scores in the dimension of neuroticism. These results reveal that fathers tend to be active in social relationships, compatible with others, responsible and open to innovations, and are also emotionally stable and have good stress coping skills. It was also determined that fathers experienced a significant fear regarding the childbirth process. The research findings show that fathers' personality traits have significant effects on fear of childbirth. The personality trait of conscientiousness has a strong negative effect on fear of childbirth. Fathers with high levels of conscientiousness have lower fear of childbirth. The personality trait of neuroticism has a strong positive effect on fear of childbirth. Fathers with high levels of neuroticism have higher fear of childbirth. The personality trait of openness also has a significant positive effect on fear of childbirth. Fathers with high levels of openness have higher fear of childbirth.
References
Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2012). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri. Ankara: Pegem Akademi Yayıncılık.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. New York: Routledge.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Boston: Pearson.
Çivitci, A., & Arıcıoğlu, A. (2012). Kişilik özellikleri ve stresle başa çıkma tarzlarının depresyon ve kaygı üzerindeki yordayıcı etkileri. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Bilimleri, 12, 1573-1594.
DeYoung, C. G., Peterson, J. B., & Higgins, D. M. (2005). Sources of openness/intellect: Cognitive and neuropsychological correlates of the fifth factor of personality. Journal of Personality, 73(4), 825-858.
Eysenck, H. J. (1990). Biological dimensions of personality. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 244-276). Guilford Press.
Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, M. W. (1975). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (junior and adult). Hodder and Stoughton.
Fenwick, J., Gamble, J., Nathan, E., Bayes, S., & Hauck, Y. (2015). Pre- and post-partum levels of childbirth fear and the relationship to birth outcomes: A longitudinal study.
Glover, V. (2001). The effects of prenatal stress on child behavioural and cognitive outcomes start at the beginning. British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 89-91.
Glover, V., & Capron, L. (2017). The effects of prenatal stress and anxiety on child outcomes. In J. G. Bremner & T. D. Wachs (Eds.), Handbook of Infant Development (3rd ed., pp. 207-220). Wiley.
Karasar, N. (2005). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemi. Ankara: Nobel Yayın Dağıtım.
Lounsbury, J. W., & Gibson, L. W. (2009). Personal style inventory: A work-based personality measurement system. Knoxville, TN: Resource Associates.
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1997). Conceptions and correlates of openness to experience. In R. Hogan, J. Johnson, & S. Briggs (Eds.), Handbook of Personality Psychology (pp. 825-847). Academic Press.
Özkan, M. (1993). Anksiyete bozukluklarında tedavi. Türkiye Klinikleri Journal of Internal Medicine, 18, 89-92.
Premuzic, T. C. (2007). Personality and individual differences. Blackwell Publishing.
Saisto, T., & Halmesmäki, E. (2003). Fear of childbirth: A neglected dilemma. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 82(3), 201-208.
Salant, P., & Dillman, D. A. (1994). How to conduct your own survey. (No Title).
Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1984). Negative affectivity: The disposition to experience aversive emotional states. Psychological Bulletin, 96(3), 465-490.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 SOSYAL GELİŞİM DERGİSİ
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
