Worry: conceptual dimensions and relevance to childbearing women.

Worry is a cognitive activity that can be a behavioral expression to better understand how a person is coping and will adapt to his or her situation. The content and expression of worries are influenced by characteristics, such as personality, coping styles, cultural orientation, and social environment. Women experience multiple worries during the childbearing period, such as how pregnancy affects one's body image, whether the baby will be normal and healthy, how being pregnant affects the relationship with spouse/mate, whether to continue employment during or after pregnancy, and uncertainties about adequate finances to support the new or growing family. In this article we present the conceptual dimensions of worries with application to women's childbearing adaptation. Implications for development of research studies and the design of clinical practice strategies are identified.