title: Psychosocial stress during pregnancy is related to adverse birth outcomes: results from a large multi-ethnic community-based birth cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prevalence rates of psychosocial stress during pregnancy are substantial. Evidence for associations between psychosocial stress and birth outcomes is inconsistent. This study aims to identify and characterize different clusters of pregnant women, each with a distinct pattern of psychosocial stress, and investigate whether birth outcomes differ between these clusters.
  
  
  METHODS
  Latent class analysis was performed on data of 7740 pregnant women (Amsterdam Born Children and their Development study). Included constructs were depressive symptoms, state anxiety, job strain, pregnancy-related anxiety and parenting stress.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five clusters of women with distinct patterns of psychosocial stress were objectively identified. Babies born from women in the cluster characterized as 'high depression and high anxiety, moderate job strain' (12%) had a lower birth weight, and those in the 'high depression and high anxiety, not employed' cluster (15%) had an increased risk of pre-term birth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Babies from pregnant women reporting both high levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms are at highest risk for adverse birth outcomes.
authors: Department of Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. e.m.loomans@uvt.nl
authors: Eva M
authors: EM
authors: Loomans
authors: Aimée E
authors: AE
authors: van Dijk
authors: Tanja G M
authors: TG
authors: Vrijkotte
authors: Manon
authors: M
authors: van Eijsden
authors: Karien
authors: K
authors: Stronks
authors: Reinoud J B J
authors: RJ
authors: Gemke
authors: Bea R H
authors: BR
authors: Van den Bergh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016487:Parenting / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology