Psychological factors and trimester-specific gestational weight gain: a systematic review

Abstract

Excess gestational weight gain (GWG), which has reached epidemic proportions, is associated with numerous adverse pregnancy outcomes. Early pregnancy provides a unique opportunity for counseling pregnant women since many women are motivated to engage in healthy behaviors. A systematic review was conducted to summarize the relation between psychological factors and trimester-specific GWG, i.e. GWG measured at the end of each trimester. Eight databases were searched for affect, cognition and personality factors. The guidelines on meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology were followed. The methodological quality of each study was assessed using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Of 3620 non-duplicate titles and abstracts, 74 articles underwent full-text review. Two cohort studies met the inclusion criteria. Distress was negatively associated with first trimester GWG among both adolescents and non-adolescents. Body image dissatisfaction was associated with second trimester GWG only among non-adolescents. No association emerged between perceived stress, state and trait anxiety and body image dissatisfaction among adolescents and trimester-specific GWG. The relation between trimester-specific GWG and a number of weight-related and dietary-related cognitions, affective states and personality traits remain unexplored. Given the limited number of studies, further high-quality evidence is required to examine the association between psychological factors and trimester-specific GWG, especially for cognitive and personality factors.

Psychosocial stress and longitudinally measured gestational weight gain throughout pregnancy: The Ulm SPATZ Health Study

“…Given a relatively high socioeconomic status in our study population, we might underestimate the association between chronic stress and inadequate GWG as measured relative to the pre-pregnancy BMI. We did not observe an association for anxiety symptoms and GWG, which is in line with some (see, e.g., 20 ) but not all reports. Hartley et al 12 showed that higher anxiety was related to greater GWG for 143/256 multiparous women, but, in general, the number of studies on anxiety and weight gain is rather small 31 .…”

“…Further studies should measure stress or related constructs several times throughout pregnancy allowing structural equation modelling and enlighten the complex relationship between stress, related constructs and weight (gain). This idea is also supported by the fact that recently published articles found trimester-specific associations between stress and GWG 20,21 . Additionally, several psychosocial stress instruments differ in their www.nature.com/scientificreports www.nature.com/scientificreports/ ability to measure prepartal stress 22 .…”

“…Our data support consistent positive associations between SSCS-TICS, HADS-D, HADS-A, PANX, and HCC and pre-pregnancy body weight, but GWG seems to be lower in mothers scoring high on SSCS-TICS. However, primarily concerning the WHO categories of GWG, one review 20 reported no convincing association between chronic stress and GWG. Women with high reported stress during pregnancy tended to have low GWG in one study of racially diverse women 28 .…”

Ganancia de peso gestacional como predictor de macrosomía y bajo peso al nacer: revisión sistemática

“…En este contexto, se han identificado diferentes determinantes sociales que configuran una problemática compleja que va más allá de cuestiones únicamente biológicas. Dentro de este conjunto de determinantes sociales, se ha sugerido que la paridad puede influir en el índice de masa corporal pregestacional (35) , los periodos intergenésicos menores a 18 meses y mayores a 59 meses podrían incrementar el riesgo de nacimientos con bajo peso al nacer (36) , el bajo nivel educativo incrementa el riesgo de ganancia de peso insuficiente o excesivo durante el embarazo (37) , que algunos factores psicológicos como el distrés emocional o la insatisfacción con la imagen corporal influyen en la ganancia de peso (38) o que un bajo nivel de actividad física durante la gestación incrementa el riesgo de tener una ganancia excesiva (39) . Cada uno de estos determinantes sociales se acompaña de factores subyacentes que se interrelacionan para formar un modelo causal complejo.…”

A longitudinal study on the relationship between mother’s personality trait and eating behaviors, food intake, maternal weight gain during pregnancy and neonatal birth weight

“…Finding the relationship between these items helps nutritional consultants to improve maternal education, especially in developing countries. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated the effect of personality traits on dietary intakes and weight gain during pregnancy [27]. Therefore, this study was conducted in Iran to evaluate the association of mother's personality trait with eating behaviors, food intake, maternal weight gain, and neonatal birth weight.…”