Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Feb;19(7 Suppl 1):S45-50.

Predictors of mental health during pregnancy

Razieh Rezaee  1 , Mahbobeh Framarzi  1
Affiliations

Predictors of mental health during pregnancy

Razieh Rezaee et al. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy with anxious or depressive symptoms might be associated with worse birth outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the demographic predictors of anxiety and depression symptoms in pregnant women.

Materials and methods: We assessed pregnancy anxiety and depression levels among 142 women in three trimesters. All subjects completed two questionnaires: Demographic scale and the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) questionnaire. Chi-square test and regression analysis were used to assess the association between anxiety and depression symptoms with maternal age, maternal education, family income, gestational age, body mass index, parity, and pregnancy risk.

Results: 25.3% of the pregnant women reported having depressive symptoms. Also, 49.3% of the subjects reported having anxiety symptoms. There was positive correlation between body mass index, gestational age, and pregnancy risk with depression symptom. Also, there was negative correlation between family income and maternal education level with anxiety symptom. In linear regression model, the variables of maternal age, maternal education, parity, abortion, gestational age, family income, body mass index, and pregnancy risk predicted 44.7% anxiety (F = 1.903, P = 0.006) and 68.1% depression (F = 2.101, P = 0.003). The strongest predictors of depression in pregnant women were pregnancy risk (β = 0.361, P = 0.001) and maternal education (β = -0.297, P = 0.006). Also, pregnancy risk (β = 0.523, P = 0.001) and gestational age (β = 0.477, P = 0.01) were the important predictors of maternal anxiety in the pregnancy period.

Conclusions: Pregnancy risk, gestational age, and education level are the strongest predictors of mental health in the pregnancy period. This result suggests that psychological support is needed for pregnant women with high risk and low education, especially in the third trimester, to improve their mental health.

Keywords: Anxiety; depression; pregnancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Teixeira C, Figueiredo B, Conde A, Pacheco A, Costa R. Anxiety and depression during pregnancy in women and men. J Affect Disord. 2009;119:142–8. - PubMed
    1. Pereira PK, Lovisi GM, Pilowsky DL, Lima LA, Legay LF. Depression during pregnancy: Prevalence and risk factors among women attending a public health clinic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cad Saude Publica. 2009;25:2725–36. - PubMed
    1. Kharaghani R, Geranmaye M, Janani L, Hantooshzade S, Arbabi M, Rahmani Bilandi R, et al. Preeclampsia and depression: A case-control study in Tehran. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2012;286:249–53. - PubMed
    1. Faisal-Cury A, Menezes PR. Antenatal depression strongly predicts postnatal depression in primary health care. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2012;34:446–50. - PubMed
    1. Andersson L, Sundström-Poromaa I, Wulff M, Aström M, Bixo M. Implications of antenatal depression and anxiety for obstetric outcome. Obstet Gynecol. 2004;104:467–76. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources