Prenatal stress from the COVID-19 pandemic predicts maternal postpartum anxiety as moderated by psychological factors: The Australian BITTOC Study

Paolo, Amber-Lee Di; King, Suzanne; McLean, Mia A.; Lequertier, Belinda; Elgbeili, Guillaume; Kildea, Sue; Dahlen, Hannah

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.06.055

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 63 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our findings are consistent with one of the few previous studies to explicitly test models of compounding vulnerabilities, in which the interaction between previous mental health problems and objective hardship exposure among survivors of the September 11 th , 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City was not a significant predictor of psychological distress [22]. In contrast, a recent report of pregnant individuals found a statistical interaction between psychological factors like tolerance of uncertainty and selfreported resilience with objective hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to postpartum anxiety [49]. Taken in the context of the well-established relationship between distress prior to and subsequent to a disaster [21], our findings suggest that pre-existing vulnerabilities cumulatively increase the burden of mental distress, but they don't fundamentally alter the nature of the association between hardship and distress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Cumulative and compounding effects of pre-pandemic vulnerabilities and pandemic-related hardship on psychological distress among pregnant individuals

Giesbrecht¹,

Wouw²,

Rioux³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: Our primary objective was to determine whether pre-existing vulnerabilities and pandemic-related hardship resulted in cumulative (i.e., additive) versus compounding (i.e., multiplicative) effects on psychological distress in pregnant individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. A secondary objective was to determine whether perceived social support and/or receipt of government financial aid buffered the effects of pandemic-related hardship on psychological distress.Method: Data are from a prospective pregnancy cohort study, the Pregnancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic study (PdP). This cross-sectional report is based upon the initial survey collected at recruitment between April 5, 2020 and April 30, 2021. Logistic regression was used to evaluate our objectives.Results: The data provide substantial evidence supporting a cumulative (additive) relationship between pandemic-related hardship and pre-existing vulnerabilities in relation to psychological distress. There was no evidence to support compounding (multiplicative) effects. Likewise, the buffering effect of social support was additive but not multiplicative. Government financial aid did not buffer the effects of objective hardship on psychological distress. Conclusion: Pre-pandemic vulnerability and pandemic-related hardship had cumulative effects on psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adequate and equitable responses to pandemics and disasters may require more intensive supports for those with multiple vulnerabilities.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Cumulative and compounding effects of pre-pandemic vulnerabilities and pandemic-related hardship on psychological distress among pregnant individuals

Giesbrecht¹,

Wouw²,

Rioux³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our findings are consistent with one of the few previous studies to explicitly test models of compounding vulnerabilities, in which the interaction between previous mental health problems and objective hardship exposure among survivors of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City was not a significant predictor of psychological distress [ 22 ]. In contrast, a recent report of pregnant individuals found a statistical interaction between psychological factors like tolerance of uncertainty and self-reported resilience with objective hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to postpartum anxiety [ 49 ]. Taken in the context of the well-established relationship between distress prior to and subsequent to a disaster [ 21 ], our findings suggest that pre-existing vulnerabilities cumulatively increase the burden of mental distress, but they don't fundamentally alter the nature of the association between hardship and distress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Cumulative effects of pre-pandemic vulnerabilities and pandemic-related hardship on psychological distress among pregnant individuals

Giesbrecht

Wouw

Rioux

et al. 2023

General Hospital Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Higher scores, for a maximum possible score of 150, indicate greater hardship. The items and their scoring can be found in the supplemental material of Di Paolo et al (2022) 20 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Higher scores, for a maximum possible score of 200, indicate greater distress. 20 The internal consistency is good (Cronbach alpha = 0.89).…”

Section: Subjective Distressmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…As part of the BASC questionnaire, the subjective distress score was developed by the BITTOC team of researchers (psychologists and midwives) and has been shown to have predictive validity with respect to post-partum maternal mental health. 20 It measures experiences of stress, isolation and worries due to the pandemic, both related and unrelated to pregnancy. Higher scores, for a maximum possible score of 200, indicate greater distress.…”

Section: Subjective Distressmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Prenatal maternal stress was not associated with birthweight or gestational age at birth during COVID‐19 restrictions in Australia: The BITTOC longitudinal cohort study

Gladstone

Paquin

McLean

et al. 2023

Aust NZ J Obst Gynaeco

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundVarious forms of prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) have been reported to increase risk for preterm birth and low birthweight. However, the associations between specific components of stress – namely objective hardship and subjective distress ‐ and birth outcomes are not well understood.AimsHere, we aimed to determine the relationship between birthweight and gestational age at birth and specific prenatal factors (infant gender and COVID‐19 pandemic‐related objective hardship, subjective distress, change in diet), and to determine whether effects of hardship are moderated by maternal subjective distress, change in diet, or infant gender.Materials and methodsAs part of the Birth in the Time of COVID (BITTOC study), women (N = 2285) who delivered in Australia during the pandemic were recruited online between August 2020 and February 2021. We assessed objective hardship and subjective distress related to the COVID pandemic and restrictions, and birth outcomes through questionnaires that were completed at recruitment and two months post‐partum. Analyses included hierarchical multiple regressions.ResultsNo associations between maternal objective hardship or subjective distress and gestational age at birth or birthweight were identified. Lower birthweight was significantly associated with female gender (adjusted β = 0.083, P < 0.001) and with self‐reported improvement in maternal diet (adjusted β = 0.059, P = 0.015).ConclusionsIn a socioeconomically advantaged sample, neither objective hardship nor subjective distress related to COVID‐19 were associated with birth outcomes. Further research is warranted to understand how other individual factors influence susceptibility to PNMS and how these findings are applicable to women with lower socioeconomic status.

show abstract

Prenatal stress from the COVID-19 pandemic predicts maternal postpartum anxiety as moderated by psychological factors: The Australian BITTOC Study

Cited by 9 publications

References 63 publications

Cumulative and compounding effects of pre-pandemic vulnerabilities and pandemic-related hardship on psychological distress among pregnant individuals

Cumulative and compounding effects of pre-pandemic vulnerabilities and pandemic-related hardship on psychological distress among pregnant individuals

Cumulative effects of pre-pandemic vulnerabilities and pandemic-related hardship on psychological distress among pregnant individuals

Prenatal maternal stress was not associated with birthweight or gestational age at birth during COVID‐19 restrictions in Australia: The BITTOC longitudinal cohort study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About