ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Cultural attitudes and their impact on social exchanges, self-compassion, and mental health during pregnancy
Provisionally accepted
- Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom
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Pregnancy is a key life phase for women's physical and mental health, impacted by cultural factors and social interactions. A cross- sectional survey design was employed in this study examines how cultural attitudes, social exchanges, self-compassion, and mental health outcomes are interconnected, using cultural psychology, social exchange theory, and stress-coping paradigms. A convenience sampling was used to obtain data from 280 married Kuwaiti pregnant women was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM), revealing significant relationships among these variables. Results indicate that individualism is positively associated with self-compassion, which reduces stress and depression. Collectivism, on the other hand, is linked to higher positive social exchanges, although these do not significantly buffer stress or depression. This suggests that collective cultures may impose social obligations that counterbalance the benefits of social support. Negative social exchanges increased perceived stress, which mediates the link between negative social exchanges and depression. Planned pregnancy was associated with lower depression scores, whereas unplanned pregnancies were associated with higher negative social exchanges and elevated stress levels. Additionally, a greater level of energy significantly decreased depression, highlighting the importance of physical well-being to maternal mental health. This study illustrates the dual role of cultural attitudes: individualism enhances self-compassion, lowering stress and depression, while collectivism promotes positive social support without buffering stress or depression. The study's findings indicate the need for culturally tailored interventions that integrate self-compassion practices with social support mechanisms to enhance maternal mental health.
Keywords: Cultural attitudes, social exchanges, self-compassion, Maternal Mental Health, Pregnant women
Received: 18 Jul 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Almutawtah, Erjavec and Kubis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mona Almutawtah, mnl18pqc@bangor.ac.uk
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