engleski

Correlates of pregnant women's psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global health crisis. Research involving pregnant women has revealed their increased levels of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression in the pandemic, but little is known about the factors associated with the mental health of pregnant women during the pandemic. The aim of this study was to examine correlates of psychological distress in pregnant women in Croatia during the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2022, through pregnancy-related social media groups on Facebook and Instagram, we recruited a sample of 1168 pregnant women (mean age 30.6 ± 4.5 years, 49.6% primiparas, mean gestational age 26 ± 9.7 weeks), who shared their pregnancy experiences by completing online questionnaires through Google Forms. The survey included CORE-OM, Perceived Partner Support Scale, Pandemic Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS), two subscales of Pregnancy Concerns Scale (PCS), as well as questions on sociodemographic and obstetric factors, general life stressors, and COVID-19 related stressors. The principal component analysis confirmed the three-factor structure of the Croatian version of the PREPS, with the following factors extracted: Preparedness Stress, Infection Stress, and Positive Appraisal. One-third (32%) of participants reported elevated infection stress, 22% reported elevated preparedness stress, and 29.5% had a clinically significant level of psychological distress. A hierarchical regression analysis with the psychological distress as a criterion variable and seven blocks of predictor variables (sociodemographic factors, obstetric factors, general life stressors, COVID-19 related stressors, concerns about fetal health, own health and childbirth, pandemic- related pregnancy stress, and perceived partner support) showed that higher psychological distress was associated with unplanned and high-risk pregnancy, a higher number of general life stressors, higher level of concerns about fetal health, own health and childbirth, higher pandemicrelated pregnancy (un)preparedness stress, and lower perceived partner support. The study contributes to an understanding of the relation between pregnancy experiences and the mental health of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results may be applied in programs aimed at supporting pregnant women’s mental health and well-being.

COVID-19 ; pregnancy ; pandemic-related pregnancy stress ; psychological distress

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