Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnant women
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began. According to previous studies, this situation may have contributed to the increase in stress, anxiety or depression levels. A particularly vulnerable group is that of pregnant women. In fact, during pregnancy, it is more likely to experience an increase in mental disorders.
In this context, José A. Puertas-González, Carolina Mariño Narvaez, Borja Romero, and María Isabel Peralta Ramirez, from CIMCYC, examined the psychological effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in pregnant women.
For this purpose, 200 pregnant women participated. The first group - Pandemic Group (PG) - included 100 women who were evaluated during the pandemic. The second group -Pre-Pandemic Group (PPG) - consisted of 100 women who were evaluated prior to the pandemic. Perceived stress, prenatal concerns and psychopathological symptoms were compared.
The PG scored significantly higher than the PPG in the depression dimension of the SCL-90 test, in the phobic anxiety dimension and in the Perceived Stress Scale. In addition, insomnia, along with suffering from the loss of loved ones, explained 25% of the score variance in the depression dimension of the SCL-90. Insomnia also explained 13% of the results found in the Perceived Stress Scale. The fear of contagion by COVID-19 increased the scores obtained in the phobic anxiety dimension.
In addition, they also compared the postpartum psychopathological symptoms of women who gave birth before the pandemic with those who gave birth during the pandemic.
A total of 212 women participated in the study, of which 96 gave birth before the pandemic and 116 during the pandemic. Psychopathological symptoms, postpartum depression, perceived stress and resilience were evaluated.
Results showed that women who gave birth during the pandemic had higher scores on somatization, obsessions and compulsions, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, and psychoticism.
With these two investigations, the authors showed the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had since its inception on pregnant women, affecting their psychopathological symptomatology and stress.
Contact:
-José A. Puertas González: puertasjose@ugr.es
-Carolina Mariño Narvaez: @email
-Borja Romero González: @email
-María Isabel Peralta Ramírez: @email
Full references:
-Puertas-Gonzalez, J. A., Mariño-Narvaez, C., Peralta-Ramirez, M. I., & Romero-Gonzalez, B. (2021). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnant women. Psychiatry Research, 301, 113978. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113978
- Puertas‐Gonzalez, J. A., Mariño‐Narvaez, C., Romero‐Gonzalez, B., & Peralta‐Ramirez, M. I. (2021). Giving birth during a pandemic: From elation to psychopathology. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 155(3), 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.13803