Common model of stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in pregnant women from seven high-income Western countries at the COVID-19 pandemic onset

Lobel, Marci; Preis, Heidi; Mahaffey, Brittain; Schaal, Nora K.; Yirmiya, Karen; Atzil, Shir; Reuveni, Inbal; Balestrieri, Matteo; Penengo, Chiara; Colli, Chiara; Garzitto, Marco; Driul, Lorenza; Ilska, Michalina; Brandt-Salmeri, Anna; Kołodziej-Zaleska, Anna; Caparrós-González, Rafael A.; Castro, Rita Tatiana Amiel; Marca-Ghaemmaghami, Pearl La; Meyerhoff, Hannah

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115499

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…19 A recent study of 8148 pregnant women from seven high-income Western countries, using a well-fitting common path model, showed that although pregnant women experienced different levels of stress during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, stress was a strong and common predictor of anxiety and depression symptoms above the clinically defined thresholds for poor mental health. 39 These differences in stress levels may be accounted for by the varying rigor of the measures imposed in each country and, in particular, the measures concerning antenatal and postnatal care, the capacity of the healthcare systems to meet pregnant women's needs, and possibly the style and quality of information provided by the government in each country. 40 The low level of tolerance for uncertainty at the beginning of the pandemic and the habituation to pandemic stress over time may also explain the differences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Psychometric properties of the Greek versions of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale and the Pandemic-Related Postpartum Stress Scale and associated risk factors during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has affected perinatal mental health. Reliable tools are needed to assess perinatal stress during pandemic situations. Aims To assess the psychometric properties of the Greek versions of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS) and the Pandemic-Related Postpartum Stress Scale (PREPS-PP) and to explore the associations between women's characteristics and perinatal stress during the second pandemic wave. Methods The PREPS and PREPS-PP were completed by 264 pregnant and 188 postpartum women, respectively, who also completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Edinburgh Perinatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Results The internal consistency was similar for PREPS and PREPS-PP. It was good for preparedness stress (a = 0.77 and α = 0.71, respectively) and infection stress (α = 0.83 for both scales) but low for positive appraisal (α = 0.46 and α = 0.41, respectively). Of the pregnant women, 55.33% and 55.27%, respectively, reported scores of ≥40 on STAI-S and STAI-T, and the respective percentages for the postpartum women were 47.34% and 46.80%. In addition, 14.39% of the pregnant women and 20.74% of the postpartum women scored ≥13 on the EPDS. Higher preparedness stress on PREPS and PREPS-PP was associated with primiparity (P = 0.022 and P = 0.021, respectively) and disrupted perinatal care (P = 0.069 and P = 0.007, respectively). In postpartum women, higher infection stress was associated with chronic disease (P = 0.037), primiparity (P = 0.02) and perceived risk of infection (P = 0.065). Higher score on infection stress was associated with disrupted perinatal care in both groups (P = 0.107 and P = 0.010, respectively). Conclusions The Greek versions of PREPS and PREPS-PP are valid tools for the assessment of women at risk of perinatal stress during a health crisis.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychometric properties of the Greek versions of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale and the Pandemic-Related Postpartum Stress Scale and associated risk factors during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Pregnancy is a period of increased vulnerability to stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms (Rees et al., 2019). Recent studies report reduced psychosocial well‐being and increased levels of stress among pregnant people during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Lobel et al., 2022; López‐Morales et al., 2021; Pope et al., 2021). Pregnant individuals also experienced high rates of clinically significant depression and anxiety during the pandemic (Davenport et al., 2020; Hessami et al., 2020; Luo et al., 2022; Masters et al., 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social support buffers the impact of pregnancy stress on perceptions of parent–infant closeness during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Becker,

Atkinson,

Gonzalez

et al. 2024

Infant Mental Health Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pregnant individuals and parents have experienced elevated mental health problems and stress during COVID‐19. Stress during pregnancy can be harmful to the fetus and detrimental to the parent–child relationship. However, social support is known to act as a protective factor, buffering against the adverse effects of stress. The present study examined whether (1) prenatal stress during COVID‐19 was associated with parent–infant closeness at 6 months postpartum, and (2) social support moderated the effect of prenatal stress on the parent–infant relationship. In total, 181 participants completed questionnaires during pregnancy and at 6 months postpartum. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to assess whether social support moderated the effect of stress during pregnancy on parent–infant closeness at 6 months postpartum. Results indicated a significant interaction between prenatal stress and social support on parents’ perceptions of closeness with their infants at 6 months postpartum (β = .805, p = .029); parents who experienced high prenatal stress with high social support reported greater parent–infant closeness, compared to those who reported high levels of stress and low social support. Findings underscore the importance of social support in protecting the parent–infant relationship, particularly in times of high stress, such as during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

show abstract

“…Other studies point to pregnancy-and pandemic-specific stressors such as worry about having their partner with them at the birth as drivers of adverse mental health [6]. An analysis across multiple high-income countries implicated both pregnancy-specific and pandemic-related pregnancy stress as drivers of depression and anxiety among pregnant women [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social distancing and mental health among pregnant women during the coronavirus pandemic

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The effect of social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of pregnant women is of particular concern, given potential effects on physical health, family functioning, and child development. Methods Pregnant women were recruited for the “Implications of and Experiences Surrounding being Pregnant during the COVID-19 Pandemic” study at Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Participants enrolled at any point during their pregnancy and surveys were delivered weekly until the participant indicated that she had delivered her baby; a postpartum survey followed four weeks after delivery. This analysis includes 1037 participants with baseline, 596 with follow-up, and 302 with postpartum surveys. Questions on social distancing behaviors were asked at baseline and grouped based on whether they involved social distancing from work, friends and family, or public places. Symptoms of anxiety, stress, depression, and pregnancy-related anxiety were measured. Each type of social distancing was examined as a predictor of mental health using linear model with control for confounders. Results The study population was largely white (84.1%), married (81.8%), and educated (76.2% with a bachelor’s or higher degree). Women who were younger, Black, unmarried, or had less education or income reported fewer social distancing behaviors. Mean anxiety score in the highest quartile of overall social distancing was 8.3 (SD 5.6), while in the lowest quartile it was 6.0 (SD 5.0) (p < 0.01), while perceived stress postpartum and pregnancy-related stress were not associated with social distancing. Associations were substantially diminished when controlled for baseline levels of anxiety symptoms. Conclusions Greater social distancing was associated with more anxiety symptoms, but worse mental health, particularly anxiety, may also have contributed to greater social distancing behaviors.

show abstract

Common model of stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in pregnant women from seven high-income Western countries at the COVID-19 pandemic onset

Cited by 16 publications

References 67 publications

Psychometric properties of the Greek versions of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale and the Pandemic-Related Postpartum Stress Scale and associated risk factors during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic

Psychometric properties of the Greek versions of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale and the Pandemic-Related Postpartum Stress Scale and associated risk factors during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic

Social support buffers the impact of pregnancy stress on perceptions of parent–infant closeness during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Social distancing and mental health among pregnant women during the coronavirus pandemic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About