Tokophobia: when fear of childbirth prevails

Authors

  • Alessandra Scollato Università Cattolica, Brescia
  • Roberta Lampasona Dipartimento di psicologia, Università degli Studi di Palermo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/2013.1.893

Keywords:

Fear, Childbirth, Pregnancy, Motherhood

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to start to analyze the tokophobic condition by reporting the main studies that since the end of the nineties have drawn the attention both of the medical community and the public to a disorder that currently seems to involve an increasing number of women. In the first part we will try to trace a brief history of “tokophobia”, of which term we will report the etymology and try to give a definition according to current parameters. This phobia will then be analyzed by highlighting its primary causes, associated factors and its consequences. In the second part of this paper, the results of further studies on the subject will be reported, giving particular attention to the research carried out by Hofberg and Brockinton (2000). Finally, we will try to give a brief overview of the possible treatments currently provided to mitigate, when it is not possible to heal it, the tokophobic condition.

Author Biographies

  • Alessandra Scollato, Università Cattolica, Brescia

    Dottoressa in Scienze e tecniche psicologiche, Università Cattolica, Brescia

  • Roberta Lampasona, Dipartimento di psicologia, Università degli Studi di Palermo
    Psicologa clinica

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

27-05-2013

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2013)

Section

Health Psychology

License

Creative Commons License Articles and conference papers published in Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology are distributed under the terms and conditions of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Correspondingly, authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).