Occurrence and coping with stress in sedentary and physically active pregnant - Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence and coping with stress in sedentary and physically active pregnant. Thirty pregnant women users of the Unified Health System/São José/SC answered to the Perceived Stress Scale and issues relating to sources, coping strategies of stress and level of physical activity. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that 66.7% of pregnant are sedentary and 93% had high levels of stress from intrinsic and extrinsic sources to pregnancy. The coping strategies with stress were similar among the groups, and the actives pointed significantly more in the practice of physical activity (p= 0,00) and reading, resting or a short walk (p= 0,045 ) than sedentary. Although physical activity was not related to lower levels of stress, differences between the groups were found to sources and strategies to control stress, pointing to the benefits of adopting a more active life style.