Purpose : The level of happiness of pregnant women is important because happiness affects not only pregnant women but also their unborn babies and the family as a unit. Previous studies examined the happiness of pregnant women in limited contexts such as individual factors including general and obstetric characteristics, and thus our understanding regarding pregnant women''s happiness is fragmentary. This study aimed to systematically understand factors that influence the level of happiness of pregnant women using ecological systems theory.
Methods : A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with 169 pregnant women in Korea. Collected data from self-report questionnaires were analyzed by hierarchical regression analysis using IBM SPSS statistics 23 program.
Results : A total of 5 models were examined according to individual, microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem in ecological systems theory. In the first model including individual factors, extraversion, neuroticism, and physical and psychological change were significant factors explaining happiness. In the second model adding microsystem factors and third model adding mesosystem factors, marital intimacy found to be a significant factor. In the fourth model adding exosystem factors, community service was a significant factor. In the final model adding social atmosphere, personality (β=.130 for extraversion; β=-.346 for neuroticism), physical and psychological change (β=-.154), marital intimacy (β=.324), and community service (β=.304) were significant, and these explained 61.0% of variance of happiness in pregnant women in Korea.
Conclusion : Considering the fact that pregnant women''s happiness was influenced by microsystem and exosystem factors as well as individual factors, developing intervention programs that can promote influencing factors such as marital intimacy and community service is needed to improve the level of happiness of pregnant women in Korea.