Socio-demographical and psychosocial determinants of anxiety symptoms in a population of pregnant women in the regions of central and eastern Poland

Introduction and objective:
Until recently, depression and anxiety during pregnancy were a neglected medical problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression during pregnancy and identification of the socio-demographic and psychosocial factors.

Material and Methods:
The study was prospective and longitudinal, and the research group consisted of 314 adult pregnant women. To assess the prevalence of anxiety symptoms and depression, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was applied. To assess the psychosocial variables the Rosenberg Self-Assessment Scale, Marital Communication Questionnaire and the Berlin Social Support Scale and authors’ Socio-demographical questionnaire were used. To assess the normal distribution the Shapiro-Wilk test was used. For non-parametric tests the Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis ANOVA were used due to the distribution of the variables tested against the intergroup comparisons that deviate from the normal distribution.

Results and conclusions:
Co-existence of anxiety and depression in different trimesters amounted relatively to 12.7% in the first trimester, 10.8% in the second trimester and 12.4% in the third trimester of pregnancy. Symptoms of anxiety were often experienced by unmarried women, non-working women, and those respondents who estimated their housing and financial situation as being worse. Those most susceptible to depressive symptoms were tested women with primary education and those who assessed as worse their financial and housing situation. Higher self-esteem, good communication in a relationship, satisfying social support was associated with a lower incidence of anxiety symptoms during pregnancy. Higher self-esteem, good communication in a relationship, and satisfying social support was associated with a lower incidence of anxiety symptoms during pregnancy.