Using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire in the Peripartum.

Pathological worry is a major feature of anxiety in the peripartum, and we sought to examine the factor structure, validity, and reliability in the peripartum of a scale used to measure worry in the general population (the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, PSWQ). Pregnant/postpartum women ( = 295) were followed at up to six visits, which included completion of the PSWQ and other psychological scales. Principal components analysis, descriptive statistics, paired -tests, chi-square tests, and mixed linear regression models were used to evaluate scale reliability and validity. Most participants (63%) reported a history of a mood disorder, 40% an anxiety disorder, and 18% both. Mean PSWQ score at entry was 47.19 (of a possible 80). PSWQ scores were positively correlated with conceptually related measures (correlations 0.55-0.76, all  < 0.001), and were most closely aligned with the TRAIT scale of Spielberg State-Trait Anxiety Scale. Participants with a history of any mood or anxiety disorder had significantly higher worry scores (s range = 3.70-6.69, s < 0.01). Individuals with a current diagnosis were more likely to be high worriers (χ = 8.26,  = 0.004 and χ = 34.99,  < 0.001 for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, respectively). The PSWQ correlated well with all psychological scales, especially TRAIT anxiety. Worry appears to be a major component of perinatal anxiety, and the PSWQ may be a valuable tool for more precise specification of the clinical phenotypes of perinatal anxiety. Limitations include a study population that was largely Caucasian and well educated, so study results require replication in a more diverse population.