Diamanti A, Sarantaki A, Kalamata N, Vivilaki V, Varnakioti D, Lykeridou A. Pregnancy during the pandemic: The psychological impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women in Greece.
Eur J Midwifery 2023;
7:2. [PMID:
36761448 PMCID:
PMC9885373 DOI:
10.18332/ejm/157463]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 outbreak has affected the overall health of people worldwide. Historically, pandemics pose a challenge to psychological resilience, causing heightened stress levels. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological state of pregnant women in Greece.
METHODS
A survey study was conducted on a sample of 149 pregnant women in late 2020, including the 'fear of COVID-19' scale, a self-report instrument that assess fear of COVID-19 among the general population and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale which measures state and trait anxiety.
RESULTS
Pregnant women with a mental health history tended to score higher on the 'fear of COVID-19' scale (mean ± SD: 19.48 ± 4.35) compared to pregnant women who had never had mental health problems before (17.12 ± 5.27). Moreover, pregnant women with anxiety as part of their personality tended to also score higher on the 'fear of COVID-19' scale. In all, 48.3% of pregnant women reported that their psychological state had been severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
CONCLUSIONS
Pregnant women were highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A significantly increased 'fear of COVID-19' scale score was associated with self-reported pre-existence mental health conditions. Pregnant women with higher levels of 'trait anxiety' tended to report higher scores on the 'fear of COVID-19' scale.
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