Somatic and emotional aspects of the normal pregnancy experience: the first 5 months.

Responses of 108 women in the first 5 months of pregnancy were compared to those given by expectant fathers, nonpregnant women, and nonexpectant men on two measures: a 55-item symptom checklist and the Beck Depression Inventory. Responses to the symptom checklist were factor analyzed to produce six factors accounting for 40.5% of the total variance. On only two of the six factors was there a significant tendency for the pregnant women to score higher than the other three groups: the factors labeled "Feeling ill" and "Feeling overweight." No significant impact of pregnancy was noted on the Beck Depression Inventory scores. It was concluded that a small group of reported physical symptoms but no common core of emotional symptoms characterizes the experience of early pregnancy.