Relationships between mental health symptoms and body mass index in women with and without excessive weight gain during pregnancy

Skye McPhie; Helen Skouteris; Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz; Briony Hill; Felice Jacka; Adrienne O'Neil

doi:10.1016/j.midw.2014.07.004

Relationships between mental health symptoms and body mass index in women with and without excessive weight gain during pregnancy

Midwifery. 2015 Jan;31(1):138-46. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2014.07.004. Epub 2014 Jul 19.

Authors

Skye McPhie¹, Helen Skouteris², Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz³, Briony Hill⁴, Felice Jacka⁵, Adrienne O'Neil⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia. Electronic address: skye.mcphie@deakin.edu.au.
² School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia. Electronic address: helen.skouteris@deakin.edu.au.
³ School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia. Electronic address: matthewf@deakin.edu.au.
⁴ School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia. Electronic address: briony.hill@deakin.edu.au.
⁵ IMPACT Strategic Research Centre, School of Medicine, Deakin University, PO Box 281, Geelong 3220, Australia. Electronic address: felice@barwonhealth.org.au.
⁶ IMPACT Strategic Research Centre, School of Medicine, Deakin University, PO Box 281, Geelong 3220, Australia; School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, PO Box 281, Geelong 3220, Australia. Electronic address: AONEIL@barwonhealth.org.au.

PMID: 25086989
DOI: 10.1016/j.midw.2014.07.004

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the prospective relationships between mental health symptoms (depressive and anxiety symptoms) and body mass index (BMI) in women with and without excessive weight gain during pregnancy. The secondary aim was to examine whether mental health symptoms and BMI were predictive of one another. Two models were tested: the first depicted depressive or anxiety symptoms predicting BMI, and the second model depicted BMI predicting depressive or anxiety symptoms.

Design and participants: Women completed questionnaires at three time points throughout pregnancy, which comprised of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and self-reported weight. Height and weight were also reported retrospectively at T1 to calculate pre-pregancy BMI category. To calculate total gestational weight gain (GWG), pre-pregnancy weight was substracted from weight at 36 weeks gestation.

Methods: 183 women were tracked during pregnancy; Time (T)1 (mean=16.50 weeks of gestation, SD=.92), T2 (mean=24.40 weeks of gestation, SD=.92), and T3 (mean=32.61 weeks gestation, SD=.88). The sample was divided into those for whom weight gain exceeded the guidelines for GWG (excessive gestational weight gain; EGWG), and those who for whom it did not. Multigroup path analyses compared the longitudinal relationships between depressive or anxiety symptoms and BMI during pregnancy for women with and without EGWG.

Findings: BMI did not predict depressive or anxiety symptoms. Depressive symptoms at T1, did however predict higher BMI at T2 for women without EGWG. Anxiety symptoms and BMI were not related, regardless of GWG status.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that depressive symptoms may precede increased BMI during pregnancy in women who do not gain weight excessively. There may be longitudinal relationships between depressive symptoms and BMI during pregnancy; however, further research is required to identify the mechanisms that link these health outcomes and inform the focus of intervention design.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Gestational weight gain; Pregnancy.

MeSH terms

Adult
Anxiety / psychology
Body Mass Index*
Depression / psychology
Female
Humans
Mental Health / standards*
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications / psychology
Prospective Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult