Table 4.
Association between lifestyles and perinatal mental health in postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic
| Anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10) | Depression (EPDS ≥ 10) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No (N = 1295) |
Yes (N = 659) |
χ2/t | p | Effect size | No (N = 997) |
Yes (N = 957) |
χ2/t | p | Effect size | |
| Demographic | ||||||||||
| Age [mean (sd)] | 34.14 (4.12) | 33.24 (4.55) | 4.169 | < .001 | .211 | 33.99 (4.07) | 33.68 (4.51) | 1.595 | .111 | .072 |
| Primiparous | ||||||||||
| No | 468 (36.1) | 235 (35.7) | 0.043 | .835 | .005 | 351 (35.2) | 352 (36.8) | 0.527 | .468 | .016 |
| Yes | 827 (63.9) | 424 (64.3) | 646 (64.8) | 605 (63.2) | ||||||
| COVID-19 exposures and symptoms | ||||||||||
| Contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 | ||||||||||
| No | 965 (65.8) | 502 (34.2) | 0.64 | .423 | -.018 | 747 (50.9) | 720 (49.1) | 0.025 | .874 | -.004 |
| Yes | 330 (67.8) | 157 (32.2) | 250 (51.3) | 237 (48.7) | ||||||
| Symptoms and/or confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis | ||||||||||
| No | 1112 (66.6) | 558 (33.4) | 0.50 | .479 | .016 | 864 (51.7) | 806 (48.3) | 2.34 | .126 | .035 |
| Yes | 183 (64.4) | 101 (35.6) | 133 (46.8) | 151 (53.2) | ||||||
| Death of a close person due to COVID-19 | ||||||||||
| No | 1181 (67.5) | 569 (32.5) | 11.01 | .001 | .075 | 912 (52.1) | 838 (47.9) | 7.98 | .005 | .064 |
| Yes | 114 (55.9) | 90 (44.1) | 85 (41.7) | 119 (58.3) | ||||||
| Lifestyles to cope with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||||
| Nothing | 141 (10.9) | 61 (9.3) | 1.25 | .263 | .025 | 116 (11.6) | 86 (9) | 3.70 | .055 | .043 |
| Sleeping well at night | 180 (13.9) | 45 (6.8) | 21.43 | < .001 | .105 | 155 (15.5) | 70 (7.3) | 32.48 | < .001 | .129 |
| Meditation/mindfulness | 107 (8.3) | 45 (6.8) | 1.25 | .263 | .025 | 70 (7) | 82 (8.6) | 1.63 | .202 | .029 |
| Talking with friends and family | 948 (73.2) | 459 (60.7) | 2.74 | .098 | .037 | 732 (73.4) | 675 (70.5) | 2.02 | .155 | .032 |
| Participating in family activities (e.g., games, sports) | 138 (10.7) | 71 (10.8) | 0.01 | .937 | .002 | 116 (11.6) | 93 (9.7) | 1.88 | .170 | .031 |
| Talking with other pregnant women or with children | 521 (40.2) | 268 (40.7) | 0.03 | .853 | .004 | 406 (40.7) | 383 (40) | 0.10 | .752 | .007 |
| Increasing time with screens (i.e., videogames, series or films) | 335 (25.9) | 196 (29.7) | 3.31 | .069 | .041 | 243 (24.4) | 288 (30.1) | 8.08 | .004 | .064 |
| Increasing time in social networks (facebook, instagram or others) | 578 (44.6) | 348 (52.8) | 11.71 | .001 | .077 | 434 (43.5) | 492 (51.4) | 12.16 | < .001 | .079 |
| Decreasing time in social networks (facebook, instagram or others) | 69 (5.3) | 47 (7.1) | 2.55 | .111 | .036 | 59 (5.9) | 57 (6) | .0001 | .971 | .001 |
| Increasing time watching or looking for news | 168 (13) | 133 (20.2) | 17.42 | < .001 | .094 | 124 (12.4) | 177 (18.5) | 13.75 | < .001 | .084 |
| Decreasing time watching or looking for news | 335 (25.9) | 171 (25.9) | 0.001 | .970 | .001 | 253 (25.4) | 253 (26.4) | 0.29 | .593 | .012 |
| Eating fast food (sweets and chips) | 173 (13.4) | 160 (24.3) | 36.84 | < .001 | .137 | 123 (12.3) | 210 (21.9) | 31.87 | < .001 | .128 |
| Eating healthier | 257 (19.8) | 116 (17.6) | 1.42 | .233 | .027 | 218 (21.9) | 155 (16.2) | 10.16 | .001 | .072 |
| Increasing personal care (e.g. having more bath or shower, facial treatments…) | 173 (13.4) | 86 (13.1) | 0.04 | .849 | .004 | 133 (13.3) | 126 (13.2) | 0.013 | .910 | .003 |
| Increasing time reading books or doing activities as jigsaw or puzzles | 217 (16.8) | 81 (12.3) | 6.74 | .009 | .059 | 168 (16.9) | 130 (13.6) | 4.03 | .045 | .045 |
| Physical exercise (intense or moderate at lesst three times a week) | 269 (20.8) | 99 (15) | 9.45 | .002 | .070 | 207 (20.8) | 161 (16.8) | 4.96 | .026 | .050 |
| Drinking fermented alcoholic drinks | 7 (0.5) | 12 (1.8) | 7.44 | .006 | .062 | 6 (0.6) | 13 (1.4) | 2.90 | .088 | .039 |
| Drinking distilled alcoholic drinks | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Smoking or vaping | 22 (1.7) | 29 (4.4) | 12.54 | < .001 | .080 | 14 (1.4) | 37 (3.9) | 11.64 | .001 | .077 |
| Taking sleeping pills without medical prescription | 1 (0.1) | 7 (1.1) | 10.39 | .001 | .073 | 1 (0.1) | 7 (0.7) | 4.77 | .029 | .049 |
| Talking with health professionals more frequently | 32 (2.5) | 30 (4.6) | 6.16 | .013 | .056 | 23 (2.3) | 39 (4.1) | 4.97 | .026 | .050 |
| Talking with mental health professional | 51 (3.9) | 59 (9) | 20.67 | < .001 | .103 | 33 (3.3) | 77 (8) | 20.62 | < .001 | .103 |
| Helping others | 92 (7.1) | 51 (7.7) | 0.26 | .611 | .012 | 77 (7.7) | 66 (6.9) | 0.49 | .483 | .016 |
| Other | 62 (4.8) | 41 (6.2) | 1.80 | .180 | .030 | 51 (5.1) | 52 (5.4) | 0.10 | .753 | .007 |
Frequencies and percentages are described in the table