Effectiveness of Sexual Counseling Based on the BETTER Model on Depression Score During Pregnancy: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Maral  Forghanifar; Omid  Garkaz; Sahar  Paryab; Maryam  Farjamfar; Solmaz  Talebi; Mahboobeh  Pourheidari

doi:10.18502/ijre.v20i4.18873

Maral Forghanifar Master of Midwifery Counseling, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
Omid Garkaz Master of Epidemiology, Research Center, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
Sahar Paryab Master of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
Maryam Farjamfar Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
Solmaz Talebi Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, School of Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
Mahboobeh Pourheidari Master of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijre.v20i4.18873

Keywords: Pregnancy, Sexual counseling, BETTER model

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Pregnancy is considered a pleasurable event in women's lives, which is accompanied by numerous biological, psychological, and social changes. Among the common consequences of these changes is increased depression. Sexual counseling with pregnant mothers has been suggested as one of the interventions to improve the quality of sexual life and depression by several studies, and this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of sexual counseling based on the BETTER model on depression scores during pregnancy.

Methods: This randomized clinical trial involved 144 participants who referred to the health centers of Bahmai, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, Iran. Participants were randomly assigned to two equal groups of 72, including intervention and control. The intervention group participated in two sessions of 45-60 minutes of sexual counseling based on the BETTER model, and the control group received usual prenatal care. Depression scores were measured using the Edinburgh Depression Questionnaire before, after, and one month after the last counseling session. After collection, the data were entered into SPSS-18 and analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics.

Results: The results showed no significant difference between depression scores in the control and intervention groups before the test. In contrast, a significant difference was observed in pregnancy depression scores between the intervention and control groups immediately after the intervention and one month later. In the intervention group, the mean depression decreased after counseling (6.54±1.32) and maintained the same effect at a later time (5.59±1.47).

Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of the BETTER model, it is recommended that training in this model and using it to reduce depression during pregnancy be planned.