Personal coping resources, responsibility, anxiety and depression after early pregnancy loss.

This cross-sectional study aimed at assessing the relationship of feeling of personal responsibility for miscarriage and personal coping resources (self-esteem and self-efficacy), with symptoms of anxiety and depression in 138 women at 19 to 400 days following the diagnosis of a missed abortion. Multiple regression analyses controlling for demographic and obstetric variables demonstrated that higher feelings of personal responsibility, and lower personal resources were significantly associated with anxiety and depression. Self-esteem had the most salient effect on women's level of affective psychopathology; higher levels of self-esteem were associated with lower anxiety and depression. Women with high levels of self-esteem also reported significantly lower feelings of personal responsibility for miscarriage than those with low levels of self-esteem. Interventions aimed at enhancing feelings of self-worth, and at altering exaggerated feelings of personal responsibility for miscarriage, could lessen the potential negative emotional impact of pregnancy loss on women.