A prospective study of the impact of psychosocial and lifestyle variables on pregnancy complications

Abstract

This prospective study examines the influence of maternal stress, social support and lifestyle variables reported over the course of pregnancy on subsequent gestational and intrapartum complications. Demographic and biomedical factors were also studied. One hundred and two women were followed on a monthly basis beginning in the third month of pregnancy. Measures of daily stress (hassles), state-anxiety (STAI-state) and pregnancy-specific stress were taken monthly. Pregnancy progress and lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, caffeine and alcohol intake were assessed by trimester. One month following delivery, a telephone interview was conducted to inquire about the labor/delivery and infant status. Sixty-three per cent of the women experienced a pregnancy complication. Three groups consisting of women who experienced gestational complications, intrapartum complications only, and no complications were formed. Women who subsequently experienced gestational complications reported over the course of their pregnancy higher levels of state-anxiety, daily hassles and pregnancy-specific stress beginning in the third month of pregnancy. Women who experienced complications during the intrapartum period only reported higher daily hassles during pregnancy and consumed more caffeinated beverages compared to the other groups. Primiparous women were more likely to experience gestational and/or intrapartum complications than multiparous women. These findings support a role for psychosocial variables in pregnancy complications. The results indicate that certain psychosocial and lifestyle variables may be differentially associated with complications occurring at various phases of pregnancy.