Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Clin Psychol Psychother. 2024 Jul-Aug;31(4):e3037. doi: 10.1002/cpp.3037.
Psychological distress in pregnant and postpartum women increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the impact of the pandemic in perinatal women at the end of the health emergency has been rarely studied. This study is aimed at investigating the psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women at the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, hypothesizing that the COVID-19-related fears influence perinatal psychological distress via the mediation of the COVID-19-related posttraumatic impact and loneliness.
A total of 200 women in the perinatal period, of which 125 were pregnant and 75 were postpartum, participated in an online survey at the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency in Italy. Depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, posttraumatic impact of COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19-related fears were assessed. To test the hypotheses, robust serial mediation analyses were performed.
Increased levels of COVID-19-related fears were associated with an increase in perinatal depression, anxiety and stress indirectly through the serial mediation of COVID-19 posttraumatic impact and loneliness. Loneliness played a stronger role in mediating the relationship between COVID-19-related fears and depression than anxiety and stress outcomes.
This study should be considered exploratory for its methodological characteristics and nonreplicability of the pandemic condition. However, this study suggests the importance of assessing posttraumatic reactions to 'collective' crises in pregnant and postpartum women for research and clinical practice. In addition, it sustains the role of loneliness as a transversal construct that should be greatly considered in targeting psychological interventions for women in the perinatal period.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，孕妇和产后妇女的心理困扰增加。然而，很少有研究关注大流行结束时围产期妇女的情况。本研究旨在调查 COVID-19 公共卫生紧急事件结束时孕妇和产后妇女的心理健康状况，假设与 COVID-19 相关的恐惧通过 COVID-19 相关创伤后影响和孤独感的中介作用影响围产期心理困扰。
共有 200 名处于围产期的女性参加了一项在线调查，其中 125 名处于妊娠中，75 名处于产后。评估了抑郁、焦虑、压力、孤独、COVID-19 大流行后的创伤影响和与 COVID-19 相关的恐惧。为了检验假设，进行了稳健的系列中介分析。
与 COVID-19 相关的恐惧水平增加与围产期抑郁、焦虑和压力呈间接相关，通过 COVID-19 后创伤影响和孤独感的序列中介作用。孤独感在介导与 COVID-19 相关的恐惧与抑郁之间的关系方面比焦虑和压力结果发挥了更强的作用。
由于其方法学特征和大流行条件的不可复制性，本研究应被视为探索性研究。然而，本研究表明，在研究和临床实践中，评估孕妇和产后妇女对“集体”危机的创伤后反应的重要性。此外，它支持孤独感作为一个横向结构的作用，在针对围产期妇女的心理干预时应予以高度重视。
