Assessment of anxiety during pregnancy: are existing multiple anxiety scales suitable and comparable in measuring anxiety during pregnancy?

BACKGROUND

This study examined the performance of multiple anxiety scales in measuring anxiety during pregnancy, an important issue due to the possible effect of pregnancy-related symptoms on the measurement of anxiety.

METHODS

Secondary data on anxiety, measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S) 20-item and six-item scales, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale-Anxiety Subscale (EPDS-3A) and the Symptoms Checklist-90-Anxiety Subscale (SCL-90), were obtained from two pregnancy cohort studies. Both cohorts completed the EPDS-3A, while 3341 women completed the STAI-S and 2187 women completed the SCL-90, with 231 women participating in both cohorts. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and Spearman correlation.

RESULTS

The STAI-6 had adequate model fit, while the STAI-20 and the SCL-90 had inadequate model fit. Model fitness for the EPDS-3A could not be assessed due to its low number of items. The correlation between the STAI-20 and STAI-6 was excellent (=0.93). The correlation of EPDS-3A with other anxiety scales was low to moderate ( (STAI-20) = 0.57, (STAI-6) = 0.53 and (SCL-90) = 0.44). The correlation of SCL-90 with both STAI-20 and STAI-6 was low (<0.50).

CONCLUSION

Findings indicate that these scales do not measure anxiety as a single dimension and that these scales are incomparable and may conceptualize anxiety differently.