Pregnancy-Specific Stress During the First Lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Assessing Face-to-Face Versus Online Recruitment

Overview

Journal Int J Environ Res Public Health

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Environmental Health
Public Health

Date 2022 Nov 11

PMID 36360988

Authors

Sandra Simo

Juanita Cajiao-Nieto

Natalia V Awad-Sirhan

Rafael A Caparros-Gonzalez

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The study aims to assess pregnancy-specific stress among pregnant women in Spain during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two samples of pregnant women from the south of Spain (Andalusia) were assessed using the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (PDQ) and a sociodemographic and obstetric questionnaire. Group 1 (N = 155) was recruited face-to-face, whereas Group 2 (N = 78) was recruited online. Pregnancy-specific stress levels were significantly different in both groups. The face-to-face group (Group 1) had higher pregnancy-specific stress levels than the online group (Group 2). The online sample over-represents young adult pregnant women with high education levels and a high number of previous miscarriages. The face-to-face study seems more accessible to racially and ethnically diverse groups. The main concern among both groups was the risk of having a sick neonate. Research during the COVID-19 pandemic can benefit from using online resources to collect data to screen and identify perinatal mental health problems in a crisis environment. Nevertheless, researchers should be aware of the potential limitations this strategy can have, for example, certain groups of people may have limited access to the internet.

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