%0 Journal Article
%J Am J Obstet Gynecol
%D 2010
%T Psychosocial stress during pregnancy.
%A Sarah M. Woods
%A Jennifer L. Melville
%A Yuqing  Guo
%A Ming-Yu  Fan
%A Amelia  Gavin
%X <p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>We sought to identify factors associated with high antenatal psychosocial stress and describe the course of psychosocial stress during pregnancy.</p><p><strong>STUDY DESIGN: </strong>We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from an ongoing registry. Study participants were 1522 women receiving prenatal care at a university obstetric clinic from January 2004 through March 2008. Multiple logistic regression identified factors associated with high stress as measured by the Prenatal Psychosocial Profile stress scale.</p><p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>The majority of participants reported antenatal psychosocial stress (78% low-moderate, 6% high). Depression (odds ratios [OR], 9.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.5-17.0), panic disorder (OR, 6.8; 95% CI, 2.9-16.2), drug use (OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.2-12.5), domestic violence (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.4-8.3), and having > or =2 medical comorbidities (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.8-5.5) were significantly associated with high psychosocial stress. For women who screened twice during pregnancy, mean stress scores declined during pregnancy (14.8 +/- 3.9 vs 14.2 +/- 3.8; P < .001).</p><p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Antenatal psychosocial stress is common, and high levels are associated with maternal factors known to contribute to poor pregnancy outcomes.</p>
%B Am J Obstet Gynecol
%V 202
%P 61.e1-7
%8 January
%G eng
%N 1
%R 10.1016/j.ajog.2009.07.041