AUTHOR=Shangguan Fangfang , Wang Ruoxi , Quan Xiao , Zhou Chenhao , Zhang Chen , Qian Wei , Zhou Yongjie , Liu Zhengkui , Zhang Xiang Yang 

TITLE=Association of Stress-Related Factors With Anxiety Among Chinese Pregnant Participants in an Online Crisis Intervention During COVID-19 Epidemic

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633765

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633765

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Previous systematic review indicated the prevalence of prenatal anxiety as 14–54%. Pregnant women are a high-risk population for COVID-19. However, the prevalence of anxiety symptoms and related factors is unknown in Chinese pregnant women during COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p><bold>Objective:</bold> To investigate the prevalence of anxiety symptoms and the related factors in Chinese pregnant women who were attending crisis intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> The data of this cross-sectional study were collected in about 2 months (February 28 to April 26, 2020). Data analysis was performed from April to May 2020. Participants completed a set of questionnaires via the Wechat Mini-program before starting the online self-help crisis intervention for COVID-19 epidemic. A total of 2,120 Chinese pregnant women who were attending a self-help crisis intervention participated in this study. A survey was developed to address possible stress-related factors in pregnant women during the COVID-19 outbreak, including demographic, socioeconomic, and pregnancy-related factors, as well as COVID-19 related factors. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale and the 10-item perceived stress scale were, respectively, employed to measure anxiety and stress-related factors.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A total of 21.7% (459) of pregnant women reported at least mild anxiety (≥5 on the GAD-7 scale), and only 82 women reported moderate to severe anxiety (≥10 on the GAD-7 scale). Factors associated with at least mild anxiety included living in Hubei province (<italic>OR</italic> = 1.68, <italic>95% CI</italic> = 1.32–2.13), nobody providing everyday life support (<italic>OR</italic> = 1.81, <italic>95% CI</italic> = 1.18–2.77), pelvic pain or vaginal bleeding (<italic>OR</italic> = 1.67, <italic>95% CI</italic> = 1.32–2.09), and higher perceived stress (<italic>OR</italic> = 6.87, <italic>95% CI</italic> = 5.42–9.02). Having relatives or neighbors with a diagnosis of COVID-19 was not associated with anxiety (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05).</p><p><bold>Conclusions and Relevance:</bold> Our findings indicate that evaluation and intervention for maternal and infant health are necessary in pregnant women with anxiety during COVID-19 epidemic, especially those with higher perceived stress, less everyday life support, or vaginal bleeding. Interactions among these related medical, social and psychological factors need to be investigated in future studies.</p>