Table 2.
Association between lifestyles and perinatal mental health in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic
| Anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10) | Depression (EPDS ≥ 10) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No (N = 944) |
Yes (N = 458) |
χ2/t | p | Effect size | No (N = 774) |
Yes (N = 628) |
χ2/t | p | Effect size | |
| Demographic | ||||||||||
| Age [mean (sd)] | 33.69 (3.95) | 32.90 (4.59) | 3.09 | .002 | .189 | 33.59 (3.97) | 33.24 (4.43) | 1.53 | .127 | .084 |
| Primiparous | ||||||||||
| No | 365 (38.7) | 205 (44.8) | 4.75 | .029 | .058 | 297 (38.4) | 273 (43.5) | 3.74 | .053 | .053 |
| Yes | 579 (61.3) | 253 (55.2) | 477 (61.6) | 355 (56.5) | ||||||
| COVID-19 exposures and symptoms | ||||||||||
| Contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 | ||||||||||
| No | 687 (67.2) | 335 (32.8) | 0.02 | .884 | .004 | 568 (55.6) | 454 (44.4) | .21 | .647 | .012 |
| Yes | 257 (67.6) | 123 (32.4) | 206 (54.2) | 174 (45.8) | ||||||
| Symptoms and/or confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis | ||||||||||
| No | 804 (68.8) | 365 (31.2) | 6.67 | .010 | .069 | 654 (55.9) | 515 (44.1) | 1.55 | .213 | .033 |
| Yes | 140 (60.1) | 93 (39.9) | 120 (51.5) | 113 (48.5) | ||||||
| Death of a close person due to COVID-19 | ||||||||||
| No | 842 (68) | 396 (32) | 2.23 | .135 | .040 | 693 (56) | 545 (44) | 2.54 | .111 | .043 |
| Yes | 102 (62.2) | 62 (37.8) | 81 (49.4) | 83 (50.6) | ||||||
| Lifestyles to cope with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||||
| Nothing | 85 (9) | 27 (5.9) | 4.06 | .044 | .054 | 70 (9) | 42 (6.7) | 2.62 | .106 | .043 |
| Sleeping well at night | 308 (32.6) | 73 (15.9) | 43.40 | < .001 | .176 | 266 (34.4) | 115 (18.3) | 45.16 | < .001 | .179 |
| Meditation/mindfulness | 153 (16.2) | 92 (20.1) | 3.22 | .073 | .048 | 132 (17.1) | 113 (18) | 0.21 | .645 | .012 |
| Talking with friends and family | 702 (74.4) | 323 (70.5) | 2.31 | .128 | .041 | 586 (75.7) | 439 (69.9) | 5.95 | .015 | .065 |
| Participating in family activities (e.g., games, sports) | 95 (10.1) | 45 (9.8) | 0.02 | .889 | .004 | 89 (11.5) | 51 (8.1) | 4.40 | .036 | .056 |
| Talking with other pregnant women or with children | 278 (29.4) | 157 (34.3) | 3.36 | .067 | .049 | 237 (30.6) | 198 (31.5) | .013 | .715 | .010 |
| Increasing time with screens (i.e., videogames, series or films) | 301 (31.9) | 189 (41.3) | 11.94 | .001 | .092 | 231 (29.8) | 259 (41.2) | 19.81 | < .001 | .119 |
| Increasing time in social networks (Facebook, Instagram or others) | 423 (44.8) | 249 (54.4) | 11.29 | .001 | .090 | 329 (42.5) | 343 (54.6) | 20.38 | < .001 | .121 |
| Decreasing time in social networks (Facebook, Instagram or others) | 48 (5.1) | 34 (7.4) | 3.06 | .080 | .047 | 43 (5.6) | 39 (6.2) | 0.27 | .603 | .014 |
| Increasing time watching or looking for news | 125 (13.2) | 88 (19.2) | 8.54 | .003 | .078 | 94 (12.1) | 119 (18.9) | 12.46 | < .001 | .094 |
| Decreasing time watching or looking for news | 227 (24) | 106 (23.1) | 0.14 | .710 | .010 | 185 (23.9) | 148 (23.6) | 0.02 | .883 | .004 |
| Eating fast food (sweets and chips) | 77 (8.2) | 71 (15.5) | 17.62 | < .001 | .112 | 52 (6.7) | 96 (15.3) | 26.96 | < .001 | .139 |
| Eating healthier | 269 (28.5) | 95 (20.7) | 9.64 | .002 | .083 | 235 (30.4) | 129 (20.5) | 17.39 | < .001 | .111 |
| Increasing personal care (e.g. having more bath or shower, facial treatments…) | 214 (22.7) | 63 (13.8) | 15.46 | < .001 | .105 | 177 (22.9) | 100 (15.9) | 10.55 | .001 | .087 |
| Increasing time reading books or doing activities as jigsaw or puzzles | 279 (29.6) | 114 (24.9) | 3.33 | .068 | .049 | 221 (28.6) | 172 (27.4) | 0.23 | .629 | .013 |
| Physical exercise (intense or moderate at least three times a week) | 356 (37.7) | 122 (26.6) | 16.83 | < .001 | .110 | 297 (38.4) | 181 (28.8) | 14.07 | < .001 | .100 |
| Drinking fermented alcoholic drinks | 4 (0.4) | 1 (0.2) | 0.37 | .545 | .016 | 2 (0.3) | 3 (0.5) | 0.47 | .493 | .018 |
| Drinking distilled alcoholic drinks | 1 (0.1) | 0 (0) | 0.49 | .486 | .019 | 1 (0.1) | 0 (0) | 0.81 | .368 | .024 |
| Smoking or vaping | 14 (1.5) | 14 (3.1) | 3.90 | .048 | .053 | 9 (1.2) | 19 (3) | 6.15 | .013 | .066 |
| Taking sleeping pills without medical prescription | 0 (0) | 1 (0.2) | 2.06 | .151 | .038 | 0 (0) | 1 (0.2) | 1.23 | .267 | .030 |
| Talking with health professionals more frequently | 31 (3.3) | 25 (5.5) | 3.80 | .051 | .052 | 26 (3.4) | 30 (4.8) | 1.82 | .178 | .036 |
| Talking with mental health professional | 47 (5) | 55 (12) | 22.59 | < .001 | .127 | 36 (4.7) | 66 (10.5) | 17.64 | < .001 | .112 |
| Helping others | 63 (6.7) | 32 (7) | 0.048 | .827 | .006 | 53 (6.8) | 42 (6.7) | 0.01 | .906 | .003 |
| Other | 67 (7.1) | 27 (5.9) | 0.713 | .399 | .023 | 54 (7) | 40 (6.4) | 0.20 | .651 | .012 |
Frequencies and percentages are described in the table