Table 1.
Main characteristics of the participants
| All participants (N = 3356) |
Pregnant women (N = 1402) |
Postpartum women (N = 1954) |
Test of differences | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | χ2 / t | |
| Demographic | ||||
| Age [mean (sd)] | 33.67 (4.25) | 33.43 (4.18) | 33.84 (4.29) | -2.67* |
| Primigravida/primiparous | 7.59* | |||
| No | 1273 (37.9) | 570 (40.7) | 703 (36) | |
| Yes | 2083 (62.1) | 832 (59.3) | 1251 (64.0) | |
| COVID-19 exposures and symptoms | ||||
| Contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 | 2.03 | |||
| No | 2489 (74.2) | 1022 (72.9) | 1467 (75.1) | |
| Yes | 867 (25.8) | 380 (27.1) | 487 (24.9) | |
| Symptoms and/or confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis | 2.72 | |||
| No | 2839 (84.6) | 1169 (83.4) | 1670 (85.5) | |
| Yes | 517 (15.4) | 233 (16.6) | 284 (14.5) | |
| Death of a close person due to COVID-19 | 1.32 | |||
| No | 2988 (89.0) | 1238 (88.3) | 1750 (89.6) | |
| Yes | 368 (11.0) | 164 (11.7) | 204 (10.4) | |
| Lifestyles to cope with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| Nothing | 314 (9.4) | 112 (8) | 202 (10.3) | 5.31* |
| Sleeping well at night | 606 (18.1) | 381 (27.2) | 225 (11.5) | 135.30** |
| Meditation/mindfulness | 397 (11.8) | 245 (17.5) | 152 (7.8) | 73.58** |
| Talking with friends and family | 2432 (72.5) | 1025 (73.1) | 1407 (72) | 0.50 |
| Participating in family activities (e.g., games, sports) | 349 (10.4) | 140 (10) | 209 (10.7) | 0.44 |
| Talking with other pregnant women or with children | 1224 (36.5) | 435 (31) | 789 (40.4) | 30.81** |
| Increasing time with screens (i.e., videogames, series or films) | 1021 (30.4) | 490 (35) | 531 (27.2) | 23.31** |
| Increasing time in social networks (facebook, instagram or others) | 1598 (47.6) | 672 (47.9) | 926 (47.4) | 0.10 |
| Decreasing time in social networks (facebook, instagram or others) | 198 (5.9) | 82 (5.8) | 116 (5.9) | 0.01 |
| Increasing time watching or looking for news | 514 (15.3) | 213 (15.2) | 301 (15.4) | 0.03 |
| Decreasing time watching or looking for news | 839 (25) | 333 (23.8) | 506 (25.9) | 2.00 |
| Eating fast food (sweets and chips) | 481 (14.3) | 148 (10.6) | 333 (17) | 27.97** |
| Eating healthier | 737 (22) | 364 (26) | 373 (19.1) | 22.51** |
| Increasing personal care (e.g. having more bath or shower, facial treatments…) | 536 (16) | 277 (19.8) | 259 (13.3) | 25.72** |
| Increasing time reading books or doing activities as jigsaw or puzzles | 691 (20.6) | 393 (28) | 298 (15.3) | 81.55** |
| Physical exercise (intense or moderate at least three times a week) | 846 (25.2) | 478 (34.1) | 368 (18.8) | 100.84** |
| Drinking fermented alcoholic drinks | 24 (0.7) | 5 (0.4) | 19 (1) | 4.36* |
| Drinking distilled alcoholic drinks | 1 (0.0) | 1 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | 1.39 |
| Smoking or vaping | 79 (2.4) | 28 (2) | 51 (2.6) | 1.33 |
| Taking sleeping pills without medical prescription | 9 (0.3) | 1 (0.1) | 8 (0.4) | 3.49 |
| Talking with health professionals more frequently | 118 (3.5) | 56 (4) | 62 (3.2) | 1.62 |
| Talking with mental health professional | 212 (6.3) | 102 (7.3) | 110 (5.6) | 3.74 |
| Helping others | 238 (7.1) | 95 (6.8) | 143 (7.3) | 0.36 |
| Other | 197 (5.9) | 94 (6.7) | 103 (5.3) | 3.04 |
| Perinatal mental health | ||||
| GAD-7 scores [mean (sd)] | 7.53 (5.36) | 7.43 (5.33) | 7.61 (5.39) | -0.99 |
| GAD-7 ≥ 10 | 1107 (33.3) | 458 (32.7) | 659 (33.7) | 0.41 |
| EPDS scores [mean (sd)] | 9.30 (5.76) | 9.02 (6.86) | 9.50 (5.69) | -2.36* |
| EPDS ≥ 10 | 1585 (47.2) | 628 (44.8) | 957 (49.0) | 5.73* |
| PTSD [mean (sd)] | 9.98 (7.53) | 9.82 (7.47) | 10.09 (7.57) | -1.04 |
*p-value < .05; **p-value < .001