When pregnancy and pandemic coincide: changes in stress and anxiety over the course of pregnancy.
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| Title: | When pregnancy and pandemic coincide: changes in stress and anxiety over the course of pregnancy. |
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| Authors: | Preis, Heidi, Somers, Jennifer, Mahaffey, Brittain, Lobel, Marci |
| Source: | Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology. Jun2024, Vol. 42 Issue 3, p395-409. 15p. |
| Subjects: | Research funding, Anxiety, Pregnant women, Descriptive statistics, World health, Psychological stress, Pregnancy complications, Medical screening, COVID-19 pandemic, Childbirth, Well-being |
| Abstract: | Pregnant women experienced high levels of perceived stress and anxiety at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the course of stress and anxiety in individual pregnant women during the pandemic is unknown. Participants were 1,087 women ≤20 weeks pregnant in April–May 2020 (T1) at recruitment into the Stony Brook COVID-19 Pregnancy Experiences (SB-COPE) Study, with additional assessments in July–August 2020 (T2) and October 2020 (T3). Growth mixture models conditioned on covariates were used to identify patterns of change over time in pandemic-related stress (originating from feeling unprepared for birth and fearing perinatal infection), pregnancy-specific stress, and anxiety symptoms. A uniform pattern of change (i.e. one-class solution) in stress perceptions was observed over time. Participants showed the same functional form of decreases in all three types of stress perceptions over the course of their pregnancy and as the pandemic persisted. Initial level of stress did not predict change over time. Anxiety symptoms had a two-class solution in which 25% of participants had high and convex patterns of anxiety, and 75% had low levels with concave patterns. Stress perceptions and anxiety patterns of change over the course of pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic were different. Therefore, to evaluate the well-being of pregnant women during a global health crisis, it is important to assess both stress perceptions and emotional stress responses (i.e. anxiety). Screening for anxiety symptoms in early pregnancy would be valuable as symptoms may not spontaneously decrease even when stressful conditions improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Pregnant women experienced high levels of perceived stress and anxiety at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the course of stress and anxiety in individual pregnant women during the pandemic is unknown. Participants were 1,087 women ≤20 weeks pregnant in April–May 2020 (T1) at recruitment into the Stony Brook COVID-19 Pregnancy Experiences (SB-COPE) Study, with additional assessments in July–August 2020 (T2) and October 2020 (T3). Growth mixture models conditioned on covariates were used to identify patterns of change over time in pandemic-related stress (originating from feeling unprepared for birth and fearing perinatal infection), pregnancy-specific stress, and anxiety symptoms. A uniform pattern of change (i.e. one-class solution) in stress perceptions was observed over time. Participants showed the same functional form of decreases in all three types of stress perceptions over the course of their pregnancy and as the pandemic persisted. Initial level of stress did not predict change over time. Anxiety symptoms had a two-class solution in which 25% of participants had high and convex patterns of anxiety, and 75% had low levels with concave patterns. Stress perceptions and anxiety patterns of change over the course of pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic were different. Therefore, to evaluate the well-being of pregnant women during a global health crisis, it is important to assess both stress perceptions and emotional stress responses (i.e. anxiety). Screening for anxiety symptoms in early pregnancy would be valuable as symptoms may not spontaneously decrease even when stressful conditions improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 02646838 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/02646838.2022.2117289 |
