Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1440560

Path analysis of influencing factors for anxiety and depression among first-trimester pregnant women

Provisionally accepted
Wenjuan Li Wenjuan Li 1Leshi Lin Leshi Lin 1Sheng Teng Sheng Teng 1Yi Yang Yi Yang 1Li Li Li Li 2Fang Peng Fang Peng 2Dongmei Peng Dongmei Peng 2Guojun Huang Guojun Huang 3*Xiao Gao Xiao Gao 1*
  • 1 Key Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology of Hunan Province, School of Medicine, Hunan Normal University, Hunan, China
  • 2 Changsha Hospital for Maternal and Child Health Care, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
  • 3 Hunan Chest Hospital, Changsha, Anhui Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Prenatal anxiety and depression exert a significant influence on the physiological and psychological health outcomes of both expectant mothers and their infants. The aim of this study was to explore the intrinsic relationships between maternal anxiety, depression in early pregnancy, and their influencing factors. The findings of this study provide scientific basis for developing targeted preventive interventions. Methods: The study involved 887 expectant mothers in the early stages of pregnancy residing in Changsha City from March to August 2022. The sociodemographic characteristics, health and lifestyle factors, and pregnancy-related factors of participants were collected. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale were used to assess depression and anxiety, respectively. Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression models using SPSS 26.0 were used to assess factors impacting early pregnancy anxiety and depression. Amos 23.0 was used to construct a path model to determine the potential pathways of the influencing factors. Results: In early pregnancy, the prevalence of depression and anxiety were 17.4% and 15.8%, respectively. Path analysis showed that early pregnancy anxiety and illness during pregnancy had a direct effect on early pregnancy depression. Anxiety had the greatest overall impact on early pregnancy depression. Education, maternal comorbidities, symptoms of pregnancy, electronic device usage time, work stress, active smoking in the 6 months before pregnancy, and sleep quality were found to solely exert indirect effects on early pregnancy depression. Sleep quality had the greatest overall impact on early pregnancy anxiety. Active smoking in the 6 months before pregnancy, sleep quality, and work stress only had a direct impact on early pregnancy anxiety. Additionally, electronic device usage duration and monthly per capita household income exclusively indirectly impacted symptoms of early pregnancy anxiety. Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of targeted interventions in early screening. Avoiding excessive use of electronic devices and active smoking in the 6 months before pregnancy, alleviating work stress and symptoms of pregnancy, increasing education levels and monthly per capita household income, improving sleep quality, and actively preventing illnesses during pregnancy and maternal comorbidities might reduce anxiety and depression in early pregnancy.

    Keywords: Pregnant Women, early pregnancy, Anxiety, Depression, Path analysis, Influencing factors

    Received: 29 May 2024; Accepted: 14 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Lin, Teng, Yang, Li, Peng, Peng, Huang and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Guojun Huang, Hunan Chest Hospital, Changsha, Anhui Province, China
    Xiao Gao, Key Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology of Hunan Province, School of Medicine, Hunan Normal University, Hunan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.