title: Psychosocial stress during pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We sought to identify factors associated with high antenatal psychosocial stress and describe the course of psychosocial stress during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from an ongoing registry. Study participants were 1522 women receiving prenatal care at a university obstetric clinic from January 2004 through March 2008. Multiple logistic regression identified factors associated with high stress as measured by the Prenatal Psychosocial Profile stress scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of participants reported antenatal psychosocial stress (78% low-moderate, 6% high). Depression (odds ratios [OR], 9.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.5-17.0), panic disorder (OR, 6.8; 95% CI, 2.9-16.2), drug use (OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.2-12.5), domestic violence (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.4-8.3), and having > or =2 medical comorbidities (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.8-5.5) were significantly associated with high psychosocial stress. For women who screened twice during pregnancy, mean stress scores declined during pregnancy (14.8 +/- 3.9 vs 14.2 +/- 3.8; P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Antenatal psychosocial stress is common, and high levels are associated with maternal factors known to contribute to poor pregnancy outcomes.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Melville
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ming-Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gavin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology