Experiencing Pregnancy during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Poland: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Mediating Effect of Resiliency on Prenatal Depression Symptoms

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic in Poland brought uncertainty, not only to the general population but also to women preparing for childbirth, which increased the risk of mental health illnesses during this special period of life. Resilience, which refers to positive adaptation or the ability to maintain good mental health, can be a protective factor against the development of psychiatric problems such as depressive symptoms. This study aimed to assess the protective role of resilience in the relationship of such risk factors as traumatic childbirth perception and pandemic-related pregnancy stress with prenatal depressive symptoms. The study was performed at the end of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 80 pregnant women took part. A mediation analysis, an independent t-test, and a Pearson correlation analysis were conducted. The lower resilience group declared the inclusion of slightly more participants (n = 41; 51.2%); 39 women (48.8%) demonstrated a higher risk of prenatal depression. The analysis revealed a significant direct effect between pandemic-related stress and prenatal depression (βc = 0.285, SE = 0.05, t = 2.63, p < 0.05) as well as between pandemic-related stress and resilience (βa = −0.283, SE = 0.07, t = −2.61, p < 0.05) and between resilience and prenatal depression (βb = −0.585, SE = 0.07, t = −6.34, p < 0.001). After the introduction of resilience as a mediator, the strength of the relationship not only decreased, but also ceased to be statistically significant (βc′ = 0.120, SE = 0.04, t = 1.29, p = 0.19), which indicates that it was in a full mediation state (R2 = 0.39, F = 25.31, p < 0.001; Z = 2.43, p < 0.05). The results indicate that in pregnant women, a high level of resilience protects them from the effects of pandemic-related stress on perinatal depression symptoms.

A Supported Online Resilience-Enhancing Intervention for Pregnant Women: A Non-Randomized Pilot Study

“…The loss of the feeling 'we are all in this together' that prevailed during the group sessions, may have contributed to lower perceived social support [36]. This supports the results of other studies, confirming the strong need to implement social interventions among new parents [23,33,36].…”

“…This study enrolled during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, where professional support became more critical but at the same time less accessible [22]. Building resilience is an important element of mental health promotion interventions for pregnant women, especially in such crises as the COVID-19 pandemic [23,24]. By integrating a resilience-oriented approach into prevention strategies, we expect to contribute to the wellbeing of pregnant women and their families.…”

Resilience and Psychological Well-Being of Polish Women in the Perinatal Period during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Therefore, we could not verify whether resilience has a mediating effect between COVID-19-related anxiety and depression and labour anxiety. Our findings are in contrast to Polish studies conducted during the pandemic that have investigated the mediating effect of resilience between pandemic stress and depressive symptoms [49]. Indeed, we used a different approach to measure stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may be one of the reasons for this discrepancy.…”

“…In our research, approximately one-third of the women in the study population reported depressive symptoms. When making comparisons with the Polish population, although these rates are higher than before the pandemic [48], our study identified lower rates of depression than Studniczek and Kossakowska at an earlier stage of the pandemic [49]. This disparity may be due to two reasons.…”

Early-Pregnancy Resilience Characteristics before versus during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…10 Consistent with findings in other contexts, resilience has been demonstrated to buffer against the negative psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 4,11,12 However, given the recent increase in mental health disorders across various populations during and following the pandemic, it has been posited that this might reflect a population-level deterioration in resilience. 13 This is contrary to the general supposition that resilience is an intrinsic, trait-level characteristic that is stable without targeted intervention.…”