Fear and anxiety related to COVID-19 pandemic may predispose to perinatal depression in Italy

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic situation significantly affected the mental health of the general and clinical population. However, few studies investigated which COVID-19-related psychopathological determinants may predispose to perinatal depression. We evaluated the impact of COVID-19 related anxiety and fear on perinatal depression in Italy. We retrospectively screened 184 perinatal outpatients afferent to Perinatal Mental Health outpatient service, during March 2020-March 2021, by administering the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19-S) and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS). Among these, 85 patients agreed to be recruited in the present study. The mean EPDS score was 9.0, experiencing a clinically relevant perinatal depression in 45.7% of the sample. The mean FCV-19-S score was 15.0 and CAS was 1.7. Linear regression analyses demonstrated that FCV-19-S and CAS scores statistically significantly predicted EPDS total scores. A positive significant correlation was reported between FCV-19-S and EPDS and between CAS and EPDS. During the COVID-19 pandemic, women in their perinatal period, independently of previous psychiatric history, experienced increased levels of anxiety, fear and psychological distress, due to subsequent isolation, quarantine, lockdown and deprivation of their normal social support. Further preventive and screening strategies should be implemented in order to early identify at-risk pregnant and puerperal women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fear of COVID-19 and Vaccine Hesitancy among Pregnant Women in Poland: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Another study assessed the impact of COVID-19-related anxiety and fear on perinatal depression among pregnant women in Italy. The mean FCV-19S and CAS scores were 15.0 and 1.7, respectively [ 39 ]. In our study, the scores of pregnant women were similar and were 14.6 in FCV-19S and 0.6 in CAS, respectively.…”

Prevalence and risk factors for anxiety and depression among community dwelling patients with cervical spondylosis during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Studies have found that FCV-19S was associated with a lack of resilience, high-frequency use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and impaired quality of life [ 35 , 36 ]. Furthermore, fear to COVID-19 pandemic was documented to predispose to depression and/or anxiety symptoms among both general and clinical population [ [37] , [38] , [39] ]. Correlation analysis in this study showed that fear of COVID-19 was positively and moderately correlated with anxiety and depression.…”

Fear of COVID-19, prolonged smartphone use, sleep disturbances, and depression in the time of COVID-19: A nation-wide survey

“…The first kind of pathway is feeling extremely scared → prolonged smartphone use → depression, indicating that feeling extremely scared could be associated with depression through the mediating role of prolonged smartphone use. Participants feeling extremely scared may hope to get as much information about the pandemic as possible or seek alleviation of their fear and distress through online activities, such as watching TV, gaming, shopping, and communicating through smartphones (67)(68)(69). Volpe et al observed a rise in problematic internet use, social media addiction, and problematic video gaming during COVID-19.…”